Midlothian band The Big Day take Vietnam by storm with huge outdoor shows in front of up to 100,000 people

The band were asked to make the journey to the other side of the world last summer after being spotted by festival bookers from Vietnam at The Great Escape festival in Brighton, who arranged for them to play the main stage at the Hozo Music Festival in Ho Chi Minh City on December 17.

The British Consulate in the Southeast Asian country heard about this and helped the band book more shows in Vietnam, partly supported by Made in Scotland and PRS Foundation, with The Big Day playing headline outdoor shows in Da Lat and Da Nang. However, a show in Hanoi unfortunately had to be cancelled due to an incident in the city.

The Big Day's lead singer Ryan Hunter gets the crowd going in Vietnam. | Submitted

While in the country with a population of over 100 million, the four-piece also delivered a talk at Vietnam Music Week, had a Q&A session in Da Lat, performed a private set for Asia's world leaders for international tourism, and took part in another Q&A session, this time in Da Nang.

Lead singer Ryan Hunter from Pathhead revealed how the band were blown away by the reaction they received in Vietnam.

He said: “It was mental, really crazy. We started the tour with a huge outdoor show in front of an estimated 80,000- 100,000 people, it was surreal. It was basically the whole city we were playing to. It was very much like the Hogmanay street party in Edinburgh back in the day when there was a much bigger crowd.

“We didn’t expect that kind of scale, but we welcomed the opportunity. It’s gigs like that you dream of playing, so it was very exciting. We were third last on the bill on the Saturday night, so a good spot, and we got a mental crowd.

“It was amazing that everyone was so up for it. It was bizarre really. These lads from Midlothian playing to so many people who don’t even speak our language.

“When we came out I walked up the platform into the crowd to get them warmed up, then I turned around and saw my big head on the massive screens. Then flame pyros shot up right next to me when the music kicked in. It was mental!

“It was weird as it was obviously a brand new crowd we were playing to. Some of them knew who we were and our songs, we saw posters of us throughout the city heading to the gig. But we also gained lots of new fans from that show.

“After that we had lots of people who couldn’t even speak English wanting autographs and photos with us. It was like the Beatles or something, Big Day-mania! That’s all I could compare it to.

“We were treated like royalty, being driven everywhere in big cars and being looked after by the British Consulate, and we met lots of politicians. It was certainly a long way from Sneaky Pete’s in Edinburgh.

“After the first show we would get stopped every two seconds by people asking for pictures. On the rest of the trip we got recognised all the time and even got meals for free in exchange for photos with restaurant staff.

“Our first headline show was streamed live on the internet so our friends were watching back home, and we all got messages from them, they couldn’t believe we were playing to so many people.”

The Midlothian band, pictured with management while in Vietnam, were blown away by the reception they received. | Submitted

After being treated like rock royalty, The Big Day are already in talks to return to Southeast Asian country.

Ryan said: “At our first headline outdoor show, government officials came and sat in the front row and the Vietnamese equivalent of Dermot O’Leary welcomed us on stage and introduced us. It was bizarre.

“At all the shows we received an unbelievable reaction. It felt like we were headlining Glastonbury, but in Vietnam.

“It’s back to reality now, and back to planning. We will tackle things differently after experiencing that. We went out there not knowing what to expect but next time we can plan strategically and it will grow arms and legs.

“There are already talks about going back in May or October, or both, with talks ongoing. We met a bunch of bookers from Australia and Asia, but it’s very early days.

“There was a lot of massive K-Pop artists headlining the festival we played and there were bands from America. Acts from all over the world really. So we were representing Scotland, which added, not pressure, but made us proud to be where we were, on a massive stage.

“We have a good reputation in the UK, but it would make sense to start targeting places like that, as it has worked so well and so quickly. The music industry out there is getting bigger all the time so it would be good to be a part of that.

“The experience of going to Vietnam was beyond anything we could have imagined. We were all over the newspapers and stuff which is also why we got recognised so much. It’s a bit bizarre that we’ve had no interest back here about what we got up to over there.”

Ryan Hunter from Pathhead on stage with The Big Day in Vietnam. | Submitted

And has this exposure led to any record label interest for the unsigned Scottish band?

“We will have to wait and see,” said Ryan. “This has spiked a bit of interest. However, I’m in the middle of writing and recording an album so I’m not interested about record deals until that’s done.

“However, if there was an opportunity to sign in Asia we would do that in a heartbeat.

“If we can get the fire burning as much as we can ourselves and then someone comes along later and pours fuel on the fire, then great.”