THERE was an occasional rumble of thunder in the distance but the weather acted kindly for TribFest followers who flooded to Janabiya for the bi-annual musical jam party in their thousands.
The sound-alike musical carnival, with colourful clowns wandering around, seems to have lost none of its pulling power and it has become such an immense family gathering even more attractions were laid out for fans.
There were numerous bouncing castle and inflatables for the young ones and it wouldn’t be surprising if they didn’t start handing out prizes for the best gazebo such is the variety and size on display.
Plus warm underfoot carpets were also the order of the day, either to protect the hallowed turf or to ensure those delicate dancing expat tooties were supported by soft surrounds.
As for the music, the mellow afternoon sounds were satisfied by a superb Simply Red set by a simply larger than life Mick Hucknall lookalike with a wondrous red wig and a slightly over-effeminate impersonation of the singer. Great voice, though.
This year’s offerings of acts from the UK were a lot rockier than usual and there was a distinct lack of female performers on stage during the spells I attended and a little bit bluer with the chat between numbers.
The Robbie Williams act was outstanding in stage presence and performance, the Oasis band a bitter disappointment, and the Guns & Roses and The Killers acts were not to my taste.
The atmosphere, however, was electric, the crowd in good form and the event seems to work so well with its distinct pattern of family fun until dusk and hard partying afterwards.
But next time, let’s have a bit more girl (and woman, so as not to hurt the sensitivities of some readers) power.
