A Bangkok Blues And Beyond column by Jeff T.

The Koh Samui Music Festival 2005 has come and gone, leaving in its wake a sense of awe that a musical event of such magnitude, with an unprecedented line up of stellar musicians and acts, actually took place in Thailand.

Well it did.

Imagine a main stage large enough to accommodate Tokyo Joe’s. Imagine dual lighting trusses 10 meters high that extended 100 meters into the audience, with a light show second to none. Imagine a sound system put together and managed by professionals for professionals and the resulting quality and definition. Imagine you’re standing, or if you prefer, sitting there watching Jerry Lee Lewis, The Wailers, blues legends Lonnie Brooks and the Blues Brothers, or any number of world class artists that would easily please even the most discerning music lover or concert aficionado.

Remember that all of this was taking place lakeside at Chaweng on Koh Samui.
Then there was CoCo Blues on the Chaweng Beach main drag, newly expanded, with a large new stage purpose built for the event. Built to recreate an original New Orleans blues bar, the place was hopping into the early hours nightly to the strains of Canned Heat, Big Brother and the Holding Company, Ike Turner, and the alluring acid jazz of Jasco.

Several days were set aside for local music fans with Fong Nam, T-Bone, Modern Dog and Sek Loso each doing several stints on the main stage with indie favorites Modern Dog even doing a gig at CoCo Blues, complete with fans screaming and swooning while fighting with security to get closer to their idols.
Getting to and fro could not have been simpler, free transportation between CoCo and the main stage made sure festival goers could catch as many acts as they could fit in a day. And with five or six different shows per day at each of the two venues that was no mean feat, I’ll clue ya.

Taking advantage of this after Soi Dog Blues Band’s first night at CoCo’s opening for Lonnie Brooks, on what was also the first night of the John Lee Hooker Tribute Weekend, we made it to the main stage just in time for the Blues Brothers opening number. With roughly half of the original line up from the days of Jake and Elwood still going strong, it was a show to remember. “Green Onions”, “Sweet Home Chicago”, “Peter Gunn”, you name it, all the classics were played to perfection. That first night set an atmosphere of childish glee that was to remain with us throughout the duration of KSMF 2005. Meanwhile our friends and brothers in the blues Cannonball opened the festival on the main stage with the debut of their first album “The Blues Is A Good Man Feeling Bad”.

The following day we caught Lonnie Brooks and his band rocking the main stage with a dose of serious blues, now those boys were good! We stayed for Chris Thomas King who combines hip hop beats and rap with the blues before taking a break for dinner with Lonnie’s bassist Andre Leonard and a chat with Lonni himself. The headliner that night was Jerry Lee Lewis, and this was a chance to see a living legend in Koh Samui! Jerry Lee did not disappoint. Even though he didn’t sit on the piano keys and play it with his feet, “The Killer” delivered the goods to a loud dancing crowd before ending with “Great Balls of Fire”. The musical journey then took us to CoCo Blues where Big Brother kept the crowd dancing and singing along well into the night. So far, so good.

The third night was spent at CoCo Blues where we had the chance to see Canned Heat in a club and Chris Thomas King again. Canned Heat, who at one time recorded with John Lee Hooker, showed the kind of musicianship that comes from over 25 years on the road with a long set incorporating all of their classics to an approving crowd.

On the fourth night we opened for Ike Turner at CoCo’s and caught their show. With a ten piece band, Ike at 74 got the audience out on the floor time and again with numbers like “Nutbush City Limits”, “Rollin’ on the River” etc, performed passionately by a lovely lady named “Audrey”.

The fifth day we had a day off and decided to spend it at the main stage; beginning with acid jazz from Jasco, to brilliant Brazilian rhythms from Da Lata and finally the full big band sound with bassist Laurence Cottle and his 17 piece band that featured English songstress Claire Martin.

As expected the big band sound was awesome as a host of skilled soloists took their parts on classics and originals.

On day six we took a break by catching only the last act of the night at CoCo Blues, The British Blues All Stars, who had flown in that same day. British blues legends such as guitarists Snowy White and Maller Anderson together with pianist “Boogie Woogie” Bob Hall, who at one time recorded with Howlin’ Wolf in London, did the vocal work for a healthy dose of British Blues. The crowd was still dancing when we headed back. (I think it was Howlin’ Wolf, but could be mistaken.)

On the seventh day of the festival we were fortunate enough to catch the Preservation Hall Jazz Band out of New Orleans on the main stage. Dedicated to keeping the tradition of New Orleans jazz alive and kickin’, the Preservation Hall is an institution with a house band that travels 150 days out of the year. New Orleans Jazz at it’s finest from masters of the craft.

Jools Holland and the Rhythm and Blues Orchestra brought the big horns back to the main stage on day eight, in style. The highlight of their tight performance was a collection of numbers featuring classic blues vocalist Ruby Turner.

Day nine of KSMF 2005 was one we had been looking forward to, The Wailers on the main stage was one of the highlights of the festival for us. Good luck and immaculate timing also brought our good friend, award winning guitarist Glenn Patrik to Koh Samui for our last day off. Sharing the bill with UB40, The Wailers played to a large crowd of fans that had begun drifting in shortly after sunset.; their sound, the lights, the music, simply fantastic as they performed all the classics from the time of Bob Marley to roars from the appreciative crowd.

We played our last show in the early evening of day 10 at CoCo Blues and headed over to the main stage to catch The Wailers again, following a short break we headed back to CoCo’s for Zakiya Hooker’s closing performance and an end to 10 days of musical heaven.

Keep in mind that the above is but a portion of the music and performances that were going on daily. Kudos again to Alan Sadd of CoCo Blues for the having the vision, the patience, and good old fashioned persistence to make what will become Asia’s premier musical event in the coming years a reality.

All I can say is, book early for the Koh Samui Music Festival 2006.

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This entry was posted Thursday, October 13th, 2005 and was filed under Jungle News, Blues Artists, Bangkok Blues and Beyond. RSS 2.0 feed. Trackbacks have been temporary removed.