To the Editor: (Bangkok Post, December 23, 2005)

I have been coming to Kata/Phuket for many years for the month of December. This year I have experienced two outrageous firsts:

1. Deplorable weather
2. Extremely good musical entertainment

#1 was at its worst just before #2 (known as Phukets first blues festival) took place, this Friday/Saturday at the Hilton in Karon.

I saw the ad about the blues festival in the Phuket Gazette and also a roadside banner in Kata. After checking out the website I knew where I was going to spend the weekend: outdoors on the grounds of the Hilton.

Unfortunately, the next day the already bad weather turned really sour, and Friday morning came after horrendous rain and winds. I therefore ass-u-me-d the festival was cancelled. However, the whole production had been moved inside at the last minute and the show went on. Not knowing this I did not go Friday, but Saturday afternoon I got the word and my buddy and I headed for the Hilton. Comfortably seated in the ballroom with plenty of food and drink within arms reach, we had one of the greatest nights ever.The music started with a local band called Hacksaw Nelson (or something like that) and the Groove Doctors. Folks - these guys were great! Where in Phuket do they normally play?

Then we had Bangkoks superb high energy Cannonball band which played excellent blues/ballad style music. I especially enjoyed the piano player with his great voice. Fabulous.

Next, we were treated to a great acoustic set by Kyla Brox, daughter of the legendary Victor Brox, whom I understand played to a very enthusiastic crowd the night before. Its been a while since I have heard such a wonderful female voice, and backed up by a guy that made an acoustic guitar sound like an ensemble, these two just roared. When her father then joined her on stage and made the walls feel like bursting diaphragms by the volume and power of his voice, I just had to stand up and cheer. It was like being back in the seventies! Then, out came a funny looking, but great sounding trumpet, and at that time we almost got up on our table! It was an experience I will never forget.
During the breaks the Emcee did a great job entertaining us, giving away dinner vouchers and even lots of free beer! Now thats my kind of festival!

The evenings headliner - Rich Harper Blues Band that closed the show - deserves a page of their own in the new book of blues/rock history. What a show and what a sound by a three piece band! When a big banner was put in place as backdrop during the break, I knew we were in for something special, but we were not prepared for the wall of sound (to use an old Phil Spector term) that hit us.

Maybe it was the ambiance - maybe it was the by now significant volume of couponed as well as free beer - but, as contemporary bands go, in my opinion, only U2, which is essentially also a three piece band, can match the fat sound of these to me previously unknown guys. The secret to that great sound is the guitar player, and in my opinion Rich Harper is every bit as good as U2s The Edge, if not an edge better. I truly agree with the organizer who took the stage at the end to applaud Rich Harper as one of the greatest guitarists in the world!

The show was superbly managed. No hick-ups of any kind occurred; a tremendous accomplishment for a first time big event, especially when considering what the organizers must have gone through to move an entire outdoor festival inside to the Hilton ballroom at the last minute.

Well done, Phuket! This was an excellent example of what is needed here and can be accomplished once the right individuals take the initiative. Put the show on again next year, and I will be back with ALL my buds!

John Morris
Seattle, WA
USA

Big blues names coming to Phuket       By The Phuket Gazette

KARON: -- The curtain rises on Phuket’s first international blues festival on December 16, with nine bands taking to the stage in the course of the two-day event, hosted by the Hilton Phuket Arcadia Resort & Spa in Karon.

The first band to take the stage, at 6:30 pm on December 16, will be Blue On Blue from Bangkok. They will be followed by Pattaya-based Blues Machine, Soi Dog Blues Band from Bangkok, and, at 11 pm, Victor Brox from the UK, described by Jimi Hendrix and Tina Turner as their favorite white blues singer.

The following evening’s music will begin at 6:30 pm with two Phuket bands, Groove Doctors and Big Fat Blues Band, followed by Cannonball from Bangkok and Kyla Brox – Victor’s daughter. Topping the bill will be the Rich Harper Band from Los Angeles, whose track As She Moved In (My Guitar Moved Out), hit Number One in Rolling Stone Magazine’s MP3 & More Blues Chart.
For further information contact organizer Andy Andersen at Tel: 06-6822639 or by email to info@phuketbluesfestival.com