KATHMANDU: The five-day long annual music extravaganza the ‘Himalayan Blues Festival 2008’ came to an end with the final gig at Walter’s Restaurant and Bar, Baber Mahal Revisited

on October 19. Various international artistes and bands from Australia, USA and Denmark participated in the festival to provide varied forms of Blues to the Valley audience. Along with the guest performers, our very own local Blues maker Jocos, Looza, Night and other well known artistes entertained the crowd.

The third day of the festival was celebrated at the very beautiful Garden of Dreams on October 17. The evening saw all the participating artistes sharing stage with other local artistes. One of the highlights of the show was the musical ensemble consisting of Shyam Nepali, Preetam Rai and Gautam Rai from Nepal along with Ahmed and Barney from Egypt and Mexico respectively playing ethnic instruments and producing fusion Blues music.

On October 18, the 1905 restaurant at Kantipath welcomed the music lovers to enjoy a fun-filled Blues session on its premises. The local band Jocos gave their trademark jiggling performance; the crowd not only enjoyed the music but also the stage presence and chemistry the band shares with the crowd.

The big Blues bang also saw Pugsley Buzzard Duo making magic on stage as Pugsley worked his finger like a magician on the keyboard creating groovy music for all to dance to.

When Subha B Sunam joined the duo to infuse the sexy sound of saxophone, the whole atmosphere got quite romantic. Looza gave a remarkable performance and the jam-up session between Hari Maharjan, Rizu Tuladhar and Nikhil Tuladhar received the loudest cheer of all.

The last day of the festival had Kenn Lending jamming up with Pugsley Buzzard Duo and Owen Campbell’s slid guitar made the gig even more interesting as the festival ended with fabulous performance and memorable experiences.