A 16-year-old from Phuket is about to share one of the biggest stages in Asian rock. Nene — real name Rattikarn "Praew" Amloy — has been announced as the opening act for American heavy-metal band Avenged Sevenfold at Singapore Indoor Stadium on October 13.
The Singapore show caps the Asian leg of the band's current tour, which begins later this month after dates in Australia and New Zealand. Before hitting Singapore, Avenged Sevenfold play two sold-out nights at Bangkok's Thunder Dome on October 6 and 7 — a handy detail for anyone who fancied catching the band in Thailand but missed out on tickets.
If the name Nene rings a bell, that's because she won America's Got Talent with a blistering cover of The White Stripes' Seven Nation Army. Since that victory she has already shared bills with Linkin Park and The Warning, a remarkable run for a teenager who, until recently, was best known for playing with her band OZONE at Phuket's Naka Night Market. Fittingly, OZONE's setlists there already included Avenged Sevenfold covers, so the Singapore gig is something of a full-circle moment.
For music-loving travellers, this is one of those happy collisions of trip planning and live music. Singapore in mid-October means warm, humid weather and a city full of things to do around the gig — hawker centres, the waterfront at Marina Bay, and easy connections across Southeast Asia afterwards. And if you're in Phuket before or after, Naka Night Market is worth an evening anyway: street food stalls, lively crowds and, occasionally, a world-class teenage guitarist on stage.
Tickets and on-sale details are being handled by the concert promoter, so check the usual Singapore venue channels if you're thinking of going. Between the sold-out Bangkok dates and the high-profile support act, the Singapore show looks set to be one of the region's rock highlights of the season — and a rare chance to see a star-in-the-making opening for one of metal's biggest names.
