Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
After hosting a series of live music events throughout 2007, Bud Music...Live reached its grand finale with its ground-breaking music festival at Coral Beach Club last Friday.
The festival was the first of its kind in Bahrain and saw 10 acts from around the world playing a diverse selection of musical styles ranging from hip-hop to rock and jazz funk.
Headlining the event was world famous New York band Fun Lovin' Criminals with headline support coming from Arrested Development.
The festival was a great success and despite the last minute venue change due to some "unforeseen circumstances", the event will go down as one of the highlights of this year's Bahrain social calendar.
Set against the beautiful backdrop of Coral Beach Club's sea-front location, the event kicked off with some home grown talent with this year's inaugural Bud Music...Live competition winners Synergy performing a high tempo set, which included a number of tracks of their forthcoming album and set the tone for the rest of the day.
English rock band Asono and the soulful funk of UAE's Abri followed before one of Bahrain's finest musical talents Shaikh Hassan and his band BrotherManDude got the crowd rocking with one of the performances of the day.
English all-girl band Vix n the Kix charmed the crowd with their melodic ballads before South Africa's Watershed showed just why they are gaining world-wide attention.
Arrested Development won a number of admirers not just because of their fantastically energetic set but also their friendliness to fans which would see them welcomed back to Bahrain in the future.
Finally, Fun Lovin' Criminals showed just why they've been at the top of their profession for so long as they produced a polished performance which included all of their biggest hits, with their rendition of Scooby Snacks getting the fans jumping.
However, Bud Music...Live wasn't just about the bands; it was about providing the whole family with a great day out in a friendly and relaxed atmosphere.
To encourage this Budweiser made the event free of charge for children aged under 13 with face painters and balloon artists making sure the kids were entertained between the acts. Bud Music...Live will continue in 2008 and will see more great international acts entertain the music lovers of Bahrain.
Words: Richard Thayne
Photos:_Phil Weymouth KSDi
