March of the Elephants

March of the Elephants (Lǿ̣fng Vânh) is a Yarphese polo band which was formed in 2000. The primary languages are English (sometimes Singlish), Vietnamese, Yarphese, Chinese (Hokkien or Mandarin), and any mix of those. The current members are Charles Nguyen (Nguyễn Thúc Tão, vocals, guitar, traditional instruments), Doc Nguyen (Nguyễn Văn Đốc, drums, vocals), Philip Tee (brass, keyboard, bass, guitar), and Vincent "X.O." Mao (Mào Nghĩ Xớ, vocals, drums, guitar, special effects, traditional instruments).

Early Years
The March of the Elephants, originally The Elephants, was formed in 1995, with three Camauese teenagers (Nguyễn Thúc Tão, Nguyễn Văn Đốc, Mào Nghĩ Xớ) who decided to form a slightly South-Vietnamese-nationalistic band. The band was mostly limited to local concerts, until the Yarphese March passed through Ca Mau. Upon hearing a performance of the rock version of "To Liberate the South" (an old Viet Cong patriotic song), the Vietnamese Liberation Army gave the band moral, and to a lesser extent financial, support. The group steadily gained popularity in Northern Yarphei with the coming years until, upon visiting Singapore for a 2003 Singapore Day concert, they added Philip Tee to the group.

Rise To Popularity
While experimenting with different styles of music, Tee decided to combine rock, Vietnamese folk music, and Polish music, resulting in what he called "Yarphese polo" music. He ended up writing most of the songs in the Elephants' following album in early 2004, Vietnamese-language "Alluvium Heart." Although it was named for the lead single "Alluvium Heart" by Doc Nguyen, the song turned out to be less popular than the Yarphese polo hit "March of the Elephants" by Philip Tee. In fact, it became the most sold album in the history of any of Yarphei's constituent countries. Tee became known as "the father of Yarphese polo" and the Elephants, who were renamed "March of the Elephants" rose to be the most popular band in Yarphei.

Subsequent Popularity
Very shortly after, Soat Lafng-tref called upon MOE to compose an album of propaganda music to aid Yarphei through the Second Thai Invasion. The album, entitled "Onwards, Towards the Sun," included several rock versions of songs songs from Yarphese history including "Count on Me, Yarphei" music by Clement Chow, lyrics by Lloyd Hsiu, arranged by Charles Nguyen, and The Yarphese Pledge by Tranh Chup-yar, arranged by Philip Tee. The lead single was "Join the VLA" by Charles Nguyen. VLA enlistment saw a 31% increase from the previous month. March of the Elephants was awarded the Silver Order by Tranh Chup-yar after the war subsided.

Another hit album, "The Canopy" followed in late 2005. It was a revolutionary album in the sense that it was the first to be fully composed of Yarphese polo. It was named after the lead single by Doc Nguyen. Other popular songs included "Sing-Sai of My Life" and "Gulf."

Disbanding and Reform
On 4 March 2006, Doc Nguyen, Vincent Mao, and Philip Tee were injured in an auto accident near Kuantan in which a car slammed into a telephone pole. Amounts of liquor were found in the car, and breath tests revealed they were all drunk. Although the central government wanted to cover up the incident, witnesses spread the news until it reach state-controlled media and eventually the public. Soat Lafng-tref canceled VLA support of the band, and at that point, Mao quit, resulting in the disbanding of MOE.

Due to overwhelming fan loyalty within the next year, members of the band wanted to get back together, but without government support, it was impossible to raise enough funds in the nationalized economy. In mid-2007, instead of holding a reunion concert, the band decided to get back together. Although they have preformed on several tours up until the present, they are yet to produce an album.