6 St Barth Weekly n°236 St Barth Music Festival: Looking Ahead With the 28th edition of the St Barth Music Festival well underway, there are some exciting events on the horizon. The first week featured the usual roster of all-star musicians playing and singing together at one of the most unusual festivals in the world. But Frances Debroff, festival director, still has some tricks up her sleeve. The biggie is the free rock concert on the dock, Saturday, January 21 at 7pm. One might ask Schedule Saturday, January 21 - 7pm Gustavia Pier Free Free rock concert with Aerosmith’s Brad Whitford and Russ Irwin, Jonny Lang, Chris Layton, Scott Nelson, and Friends. Friday, January 27 - 8pm Ajoe, Lorient €30 Dancers from the Paris Opera Ballet. Saturday, January 28 - 8pm Ajoe, Lorient €30 Dancers from the Paris Opera Ballet, what a rock concert is doing on the schedule for a classical music festival, but since the program includes jazz and ballet, well why not? So in typical festival style it’s not just any rock band, but a group of all stars featuring Brad Whitford of Aerosmith on guitar, along with Russ Irwin on keyboards (who has played with Aerosmith, Sting, Bryan Adams…); Johnny Lang (Grammy Award-winning American blues, gospel, and rock musician from the Jimi Hendrix Experience); Scott Nelson (bass, guitar and keyboards who has played with ZZ Top and Willie Nelson); and drummer Chris Layton (who played with Stevie Ray Vaughan). You’d have to ask DeBroff how she lined up such a band, but they here with road manager Donny Wightman and guitar tech/production supervisor Marco Moine, working with Alex Bendahan, the festival’s senior sound technician and recording engineer, who is also collaborating with the Saint Barth Film Festival to produce a documentary on the island’s traditional music. Production values should be high with a rig from Storm Lighting and Eric Masson’s professional sound gear (including a Yamaha M7CL digital console). “This gear will allow a really cool mix,” says Bendahan. “The concept Chris Layton rehearsing with the All Star Band in Saint Barth is for a full, clean mix, but not offensively loud. We have enough equipment to make this happen.” The band is expected to play a two-hour set including 20 songs from the various bands represented. The Saint Barth Harmony Music School will open the concert, which is part of the festival’s endowment campaign, whose goal is to raise 7.5 million dollars to ensure the future of the festival. Now that’s looking ahead.