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BAHRAIN staged its own Coachella-style music festival on Friday as one tribute act after another performed a range of golden oldies and top-of-the-pop favourites throughout the day and night.
It’s a picnic in the park for all ages and the sound-alikes from the UK donned their wigs and strutted their stuff on stage in true camp style to the delight of thousands of families.
The twice-annual music bonanza appears to have lost none of its appeal and this time round more than a thousand tickets were snapped up well in advance for an event which is usually more of a walk-in affair.
The sun shone brightly as the curly-wigged Tom Jones wannabe stepped forward for the merry mums in the audience just moments after a Lady GaGa impersonator had entertained a group of little girls dancing delightfully.
Now this Tom was no comparison to the real Welsh wonder who recently appeared on stage during the Spring of Culture celebrations at Bahrain Bay but it didn’t really matter.
The Janabiya pitch was covered with blankets, Arabic-style lounge cushions and gazebos offering shade in what was a hot, sunny afternoon while families and friends roamed the grounds barefoot and very merry.
Clownish characters selling bubbles and twirling ribbons made a killing with the kids while parents swayed to the sounds of Brit Pop and sang loudly along to Oasis’s classic Don’t Look Back in Anger.
When Ed Sheeran’s doppelganger appeared, teenage girls rushed the stage and The Blues Brothers kept the dancers jumping and jiving until sunset.
Bob Marley music lovers bopped their heads in delight when No Woman No Cry and Could You Be Loved was performed and the Stevie Wonder act sounded exactly like the Motown star as he mimicked his mannerisms and energy. We didn’t see that coming.
The Bryan Adams medley finale was spectacular and the perfect end to the evening. All the performers gathered on stage for one last farewell sing-along. October and Trib Fest 2017 Round 2 can’t come soon enough.
