Friday February 26

Festival Director Andy Andersen greeted the early crowd in true blues tradition (“Gotta say it twice!”), after which he introduced the event’s new MC, DJ Danny Ogo of 91.5FM.

As you’d expect, Mr. Robert ‘One-Man’ Johnson treated the early crowd to a fine blend of original and classic blues, accompanying himself with a variety of instruments.

The Festival was then officially opened by Phuket Vice-Governor Smith who gave a short speech on the importance of blues and western music in Thailand.

Classic rock was next on tap with the band, RetroVision. All Bangkokbased, the four musicians played classic numbers from every part of the globe. They rocked and rolled the early crowd and got them in the mood for the great show to come.

Next up was another international collaboration, The Rockin’ Angels with Andy Gonzales. The band, led by local blues meister Singapore Pat, worked seamlessly behind the spicy Latin rhythm and vocals of the Arizona bass player. Blues shouter Jimmy Fame was also featured, accompanied on harp by Norwegian rocker Arvid Munthe. Pat also showcased some of his new-found super-talent with 16-year-old prodigy Jeri joining half-way through, on bass guitar. Goodness, could that girl play!

Rich Harper and this Festival go together like wine and cheese; you can’t really imagine one without the other. For the fifth year Rich brought his brand of original and classic blues to delight the recordbreaking crowd.

Closing the show on the first night was one of Australia’s foremost pop/rock musicians, Richard Clapton. 35 years after he soared to the top of the Australian charts Richard continues to be a household name ‘Down Under.’ The crowd was enthralled by this amazing talent, as the marvellous band delivered beautiful melodies and insightful lyrics.

Saturday February 27

The second night saw an almost full moon rising as the Malaysian group Akasha came on stage. Since they took the Rainforest Music Festival by storm in 2008, these seven guys have toured the world. They sat cross-legged on the floor, playing all sorts of exotic acoustic instruments from around the planet.

Next up was George Cordeiro and the Fai Jang Blues Gang, featuring guest artists on steel guitar and harmonica.

Tony Wilson and Rob Davies, showed up, as expected, with a whole new line of Groove Doctors and Friends. The band has changed presentation styles for the Festival every year, and this year was no exception. Three beautiful songbirds in front gave Tony a new vocal boost.

Next up were the Prodigal Sons dressed in leather ‘Blues Brothers’ jackets and ’60s jeans. They blasted off with the Stones’ version of ‘Not Fade Away’. The band then rocked through 45 minutes of fun, crazy stunts and very well played music, intermixed with moments of seriousness.

KNiKi, the lovely ‘vibracious’ lass from Perth, followed. She was a superb curtain-raiser for the legendary, Charlie Musselwhite and his awesome band. Charlie, who has recently been inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame, brought the Phuket International Blues Festival to a rousing climax. Playing in Thailand for the first time, and exclusively in Phuket, Charlie was the inspiration for Dan Aykroyd’s character in the mega-hit movie ‘The Blues Brothers’. At 66, he still has tremendous vocal power and plays with a tone and technique, which are the envy of more pedestrian harp players. His encore ‘Cristo Redentor’ was living proof … say no more.

He featured most of the songs from his latest album ‘Rough Dried’, which sold like hotcakes after the show. If you missed the great man, and you’re going to Europe shortly, he’ll be touring there this spring.
See his full schedule at www.charliemusselwhite.com

The Festival is a charity event, and at 11 pm Friday Andy presented a cheque for 50,000 baht to Peter Hamilton, Vice Chairman of the ‘Phuket Has Been Good to Us’ foundation. Peter spoke briefly about the great work which this foundation continues to do, educating less fortunate local children. The foundation was formed by the late Tom McNamara and focuses on quality English education.

Then again at 11 pm on the following evening, Andy presented a cheque for 50,000 baht to Woody Leonard, President of the Rotary Club of Patong, which was the Festival’s second beneficiary this year. Woody gave a short speech on the great work the RC does helping local children, and supporting many other charitable projects on the island.

For more information contact:

Andy Andersen, Festival director
Tel: +66 (0)86 682 2639
Email: phuketmusic@yahoo.com Website: www.phuketbluesfestival.com