My friend John Stiles is a blues fanatic like me. He proposed we meet at the Saxophone Pub on Victory monument in Bangkok. Traffic is bad, and parking hard to find around there . . . so a taxi is a must.
The taxi was clean and well equipped with traffic safety garlands, hanging talismans, and a dashboard Buddha. I felt safe.
I rode the taxi to the nearest Sky Train station and road it to Victory Monument Station.
The area around Victory Monument Circle was bustling: it is the start of the long Songkran week-end. Many people congregate her to catch mini-vans to all parts of Thailand.
. . . and this forlorn street peddler cart operator.
A new shipment of display feet arrived just in time . . for a photo. Thai streets are covered in street vendor tables of infinite interest.
I arrived at the Saxophone Pub early. The opening act was an incredible acoustic folk singer. Forgive me for not knowing his name.
It didn't take long for the place to 'lively up' when the house band, Ped's Band, started rockin' . . .
These guys are good.
This guy is a fantastic blues guitar player . . . once he gets warmed up.
He had the whole place in a blues swoon.
Good driving bass . . .
. . . a fine drummer . . .
. . . and a not-bad-at-all rhythm/second lead guitar played some pretty powerful interpretations of SRV and Hendrix classics. Nice.
Saxophone Pub is thick with authentic atmosphere that a Hollywood set director could never duplicate.
Everybody who is anybody in the blues world of Thailand has played, or hopes to play, Saxophone.
It is nice to sit at a counter directly in front of the band. What a scene!
A second band, The Emergency Band, came on at midnight. They were very good . . . R&B . . .
. . . and rocked the place too.
My ears ringing with sweet blues and R&B, I finally gave up and left at around 1:30am and headed out into a deserted Victory Monument Circle to find a taxi home.