Shine in Muscat

I finally arrived in Muscat at around 8 PM, not too shabby, just over 4 hours drive. I did take some liberties with the speed limit though :) in order to make up the time lost at the border.

All the previous "plans" were out the door on arrival, as the band was still trying to organise rooms for them to stay in. Seems all was not as well organised as was hoped, so a lot of last minute things happening at the Grand Hyatt. The band had their first night on Monday, and have been "camping" at various other hotels, places, homes, etc. while waiting for the hotel to setup their accomodations. Anyway, turns out I was gonna be camping with Holli, which wasn't too bad, as she was just moved into one of the nice rooms in the hotel.

Anyway, rush rush, the band starts playing at 10 PM, so we had to hurry already.

And, all is good at the Safari Bar at the Grand Hyatt. The sound is really good, even though some of the equipment is from shortly after when Edison got the light bulb going. The venue is much smaller than the Hard Rock, and the layout is a little odd, but that doesn't stop Shine!!

Excuse the not-so-great photos, taken with my pocket camera :)

Shine on stage!! (Claire, Adrian, Ben, Holli and Myles)

Musical instruments!!! These guys are just too funny :) Yep, they're all playing different instruments, and you really couldn't tell that it isn't their normal instruments.

Claire (playing bass here) is normally on keys and vocals.

Adrian (on the drums) is the lead guitarist.

Holli (playing the acoustic guitar) is actually the drummer.

Bennie (on the keyboard) is the bassist.

And last but definately not least, Myles (also answers to Shaun, on the guitar here) is the male vocalist/guitarist. Myles is the new addition to the band. With all the chaos with relocating to Oman, the band didn't have any time to rehearse together, and the first time they all played together was on Monday night (their first show). He is the baby of the band, coming in at a whopping 21 years of life experience, and an excellent fit for the band, and what an awesome dude.

I was really blown away at how good the sound was. Much clearer than at the Hard Rock Dubai, and the show was great fun.

Road Trip

Woohoo, road trip to Muscat, Oman! Decided, well actually, was persistently nudged/encouraged that it was time to visit the band, Shine, at their new gig, the Grand Hyatt in Muscat. The band had just started their new contract in Muscat on Monday, and needed a friendly face as they've had their fair share of challenges starting their new contract.

So, "Hi ho, hi ho, its off to Muscat I go, with a ..." you know the rest. Its not too bad, only about 400 km away, and a little more than 4 hours drive. The only hiccup is the negotiating the Oman border. Wow, what a pain!

That's the main VISA application building at the border, one of 3 buildings and checkpoints you have to navigate spread over a distance of 10 km. All in all, took nearly an hour to get through the checkpoint, and really put a dent in my agenda.

Once the border has been cleared, we're officially in Oman, and need to do the remaining 240 odd kilometers to Muscat.