Plan B, Live at The FCC Angkor

Plan B, Live at The FCC Angkor

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It's always good to have a plan B.

Just ask Peter Flierl, a.k.a. Sneaky Pete. When the Australian bass player's band, Del Webb Explosion, split up in the early 1980s, he put plan B into motion: he formed a new band that he fittingly named PLAN B.

"PLAN B quickly established itself as a force to be reckoned with," Flierl says.

The Adelaide-based group quickly became popular while playing "a very palatable form of hard-edged pop-influenced soul", he says.

"We were all pretty good lookin' back then . . . still are . . . although some have fared better than others," Flierl jokes.

The eight-piece soul-influenced rock band plays The FCC Angkor on Jan. 3. Two Phnom Penh dates include Memphis on Jan 1 and Sharky's on Jan 2.

The band will be playing about 50 percent original music while the remainder will be covers of bands that have influenced PLAN B, including The Commitments, Dexys Midnight Runners and Southside Johnny & the Ashbury Dukes.

"It's emotional music geared to take the audience through a range of emotions during the course of a three-hour show," Flierl explains. Other bands and individuals that have influenced PLAN B include Otis Redding, Sam & Dave, Wilson Pickett, Chicago and the Blues Brothers.

PLAN B's original members, who are back for the current lineup, are Flierl on bass and vocals, Patrick Stapleton on trombone, Rob Williams on trumpet and Peter Spooner on keyboards and vocals.

The new members are Brett Monten on lead vocals, John Mulholland on lead guitar and vocals, Glen Torrens on tenor saxophone and Walter Kiess on drums and vocals.

The band originally broke up in the mid 1980s. The idea of a reunion tour came from a conversation on Facebook between Flierl and Stapleton about PLAN B's early days.

The pair wanted somewhere other than Australia that was easy to get to and not too expensive. Flierl, who currently works an office job in Dubai, was posted in Vietnam in 2004-06. During that time he and his wife had formed a band called The Mekong Delta Band.

"So Vietnam and Cambodia seemed the obvious choice," Flierl says about the decision to tour Cambodia and Vietnam.

The timing was perfect, he says, and he and Stapleton both had a strong urge to play again as PLAN B.

"Patrick and I had itchy feet. We missed being up on stage with the eight-piece tower of power that was PLAN B," Flierl says.

The band is planning to record live cuts from the tour as well as have its performances filmed with the intention of making a documentary, he says. As well, PLAN B will be recording a new song in a studio in Ho Chi Minh City.

Flierl is looking forward to the Cambodia gigs.

"Personally, I am very excited to bring the band to Cambodia and play at two great venues in Phnom Penh as well as what should be a great venue at the FCC in Siem Reap," Flierl says.