|  Blues
is very much alive on this island. A line up of Indonesia’s
best rock & blues musicians took the stage at the
Rock and Blues Concert in Mall Bali Galeria last Saturday
evening. A rare occasion!
In the open air area at the back of this huge mall, a
big stage had been set up with a killer sound system.
Die hard rock and blues fans sat comfortably on plastic
chairs with some folks lounging comfortably on the floor.
An eccentric ‘blues traveler’ Rob Van Willy
opened the concert with his own songs, accompanied only
by a single acoustic guitar, mostly talking about life
on the road. The Dutch born musician wooed the crowd with
his happy go lucky blues and humorous lyrics. One of his
songs “Give Me A Ride” started with the lyric
“Please sir, stop and give me a ride, I won’t
kill your kids or rape your wife…”
Balawan was up next, leaving behind his jazzy Batuan
Band and summoning his classic rock roots with his very
first outfit, Maxel Band. Balawan started with an instrumental
number, showing off his high speed skills on the guitar.
Aerlangga, the band’s vocalist has this incredible
voice that resembles old classic rock singers that can
reach super high notes without sweating (think Robert
Plant baby!)They continued with an hour long feast of
classic rock, bringing us back to the good old days of
Whitesnake, The Police and Deep Purple.
Finally, the main attraction appeared in the shape of
Gugun and the Blues Bug, a very well known blues guitarist
and singer, with the help of John, a bassist from UK,
Isman Blues on drums, Mr. Wade; a veteran keyboard player
and a singer from USA and off course, the infamous Sue
Bonington, talented singer and host of hit TV show “Blues
Night”. The night flowed on with self written blues
numbers and a parade of Jimmy Hendrix classics from the
very talented Gugun. We were absorbed by the way they
played; a skill that comes from the soul. Some of us forgot
to sit still and started dancing on the grass. What a
great way to spend your Saturday night!
Too bad if you missed this one but hopefully this event
will become annual. Salute to Superadio 105, 2 FM and
Mall Bali Galeria for making this possible. This kind
of musical event should happen more often. /MK
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