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THE final 10 contestants for PLUGGED IN 'The B Guitar Master 2010' competition took to the stage at Z Club, Pars Hotel, Juffair, on Friday night to find out who rocks the hardest ... well mostly.
Only nine of the 10 finalists managed to perform to the heaving crowd of rock fans and guitar enthusiasts as Ian Kenneth Paa was unable to perform following technical difficulties with his equipment. This meant that the competition started late, but at least I had a few hours to enjoy the resident band with GulfWeekly photographer, Jayson De Leon.
The event, sponsored by BMMI, provided a platform for local artistes to showcase their skills according to brand executive and competition judge, Yousif Taha, who said that the event was geared at supporting aspiring musicians.
"This has been a great competition, it's been very exciting and it's a good way to show support for musicians in Bahrain," he said.
"It's something a little bit different from the norm and I think that's what Bahrain needs to keep people entertained."
The lights were dimmed, the spotlights came beaming down and the rippling feedback from the amplifiers quickly spilled out into the room. That's when the first contestant Joseph Ricasio took to the stage to the roar of the anticipating crowd. He began his set ambitiously with Highway Star and impressed me with his energetic over-hand playing style.
The standard had officially been set, and the bar was pretty high, so when an unassuming older gentleman by the name of Jim Fox took the stage I was apprehensive of what was to follow. But, as soon as he picked up his guitar and began his medley of blues-inspired free styling, I was put in my place.
Next to grace the stage was Ryan Shera. This young man was the first contestant to mix it up a little by doing the first half of his set on an acoustic, and the other half on an electric guitar. He won over the crowd early, but I still had my money on Jim and was eager to see the next guitarist step up.
Hameed Al Rasheed was next and as he slowly walked to the stage with his unkempt hair falling over his eyes, I felt like he may have a hard time working the crowd. However, once he belted out his first note and quickly began to flick his fingers through every note on the fret board, I thought to myself: 'This is a little man with a big talent'.
Daryl Alde Yquin began his set with vigour and managed to pull off a few tricky hammer-ons and had the crowd going with his vigorous playing style.
Yousef Al Jishi was ready to follow with his inspired performance which I swear actually looked effortless. People with this kind of natural musical ability really irritate me because I've been trying to learn the same song for a year!
Hussien Al Nasser was the penultimate contestant and the crowd were whipped into a frenzy of energy every time he embraced the wammy bar.
Kanishk Chandhok was the final guitarist and immediately blasted out some classic Lenny Kravitz then proceeded to delight every former hippy in the room with some Jimi Hendrix.
As event creative director, Paulo Romero gathered the finalists to the stage to announce the winner, a hush fell over the once wild crowd. The contestants looked calm and collected while they waited for the results.
Ryan came up tops and walked away with the $1,000 prize while Hussain Al Nasser and Yousif Al Jishi came in second and third place, winning $500 and $300 respectively.
When presented with his cash prize and trophy, Ryan said: "I never expected this to happen, it feels great to win. I thank God because he really helped me out with this one."
Ryan, 18, a former student of the Pakistan Urdu School, states his influences as Joe Satriani, Steve Vai and Stevie Ray Vaughn and credits them with the way he plays. He said: "They all had an influence on the way that I play, although that's not what got me into playing guitar in the first place."
According to Ryan, his love for the guitar stemmed from his older brother's love for playing the piano. "I remember being fascinated watching him play when I was about 13 and I thought to myself, I don't want to do that, I want to learn a different instrument, so that's when I picked up the guitar and the rest just kind of happened," he explained.
Winning the competition is only the beginning for this young guitarist; he has plans to find a university in the US to study contemporary music. And as for his $1,000 prize, he intends to put it to good use by investing in an Ibanez guitar ... to help with his studies!
The Guitar Master competition is just the sort of event that Bahrain needs. I'm bored to death with this tiny island's over-saturation of egocentric, glorified laptop users (DJs) pumping commercial R&B into my ears. I'm tired of hearing the same generic covers of Hotel California and Sweet Child O'Mine from all the resident bands, it's about time this little island got a new form of entertainment and encouraging young musicians (and old ones too) to show what they're made of was a great start. This event really struck a chord with me.
- Charlie Holding
