The music of the great and unique, Jimi Hendrix, was considered one of the most significant contributions to the 60s counterculture movement. Of all the band members at the festival, it’s John Campbell, the front man for the Hendrix tribute band, Are You Experienced? who is most likely to send the proverbial chills up your spine – he not only sounds like the real thing, but from a short distance he is the spitting image of Hendrix, only a little older. All his moves on stage are a carbon copy of those of Hendrix – the visual style, playing the Strat behind his head, the powerful, bluesy, hoarse voice and the number where he burns his electric guitar. When he plays “Foxy Lady”, the stage packs out with ladies of all ages, shapes and sizes at the festival, who gyrate slowly to the sounds of one of the greatest songs of all time, according to Rolling Stone magazine. John is absolutely perfect as Hendrix, in every sense of the word but what totally won me over last year was his strong sense of duty and professionalism, which he displayed with such aplomb and grace, only a few short hours after a serious back injury that threatened to cancel his show. Unbeknown to the audience, John twisted his lower back very badly during a fall the day before he was due to play and he had to be rushed to hospital. John knew that only surgery would free him from the horrific pains that were shooting up his spine, but that would mean cancelling his show.

So, against the Greek doctors’ advice, John discharged himself from hospital the next evening, only a couple of hours before taking his place on the stage. For the exception of a handful of fans, no one else knew or noticed that anything was amiss as John kept to the programme right to the last detail, delivering a most impressive performance without once faltering on his steps or voice. Wow! That’s what you’d call a true star!
The two other very gifted members that make up this exhilarating and spectacular show are Mark Arnold (bass) and Kevin O’Grady, (drums/vocals). Both of these highly-talented performers have played for a number of other bands before joining John and have years of experience behind them. Mark is regarded an excellent bassist back home and has a style all of his own, while Kevin’s drumming technique is solid and creative. In fact, the combination of all three talents of Are You Experienced? make this group the world’s number one Hendrix tribute band, prompting many professional musicians to state that John actually plays one or two tracks better than Hendrix himself.







Letz Zep
This will be Letz Zep’s third consecutive appearance at the Rhodes Rock Fest and besides their popularity with the UK travelling fans, they never fail to draw gasps of admiration from the local crowd, either, as mere mention of the name, Led Zeppelin, to any Greek is enough to make them forget the austerity measures and rush out to buy tickets to the show. Of the many Zeppelin tribute bands around, Letz Zepp is regarded as tops, the best of the best, and having the privilege of enjoying them live last year, I can’t praise them enough – two hours of this amazing music does untold good to anyone’s soul, especially for those who grew up with their music. Each one of their songs will catapult you back to some interesting stage in your childhood and you will smile as the memories come flooding back. They are powerful, just like the originals, both on the technical side and visually. Billy Kulke, the front man, who impersonates Robert Plant, is a must-see for anyone who was too young or never got the chance to admire the real Plant up close. He’s a hunk, just like Plant was, and with those tumbling, soft, golden locks framing his angelic face and those batting, baby-blue eyes, Billy is a Robert Plant clone-supreme. He’s the guy that caused the original Robert Plant to do a double-take when he met him at a Letz Zepp concert in the UK, some time ago. He was reported to have said that watching Billy on stage was like watching himself onstage: “I walked in, I saw me!” he said. And commenting on his voice quality, Page asked: 'Do I have to sing the Battle of Evermore with this guy?'

Before forming Letz Zepp, Billy worked alongside some of the world’s greatest artists, drawing loads of inspiration from them. His talents gave him access to play alongside music giants, such as Osbourne, Daltrey of The Who, Glover of Deep Purple, Iron Maiden and Rainbow. But, of course, he wouldn’t be able to pull it off by himself and for this reason he has pooled the exceptional talents of three other gentlemen, all of whom do a good job of impersonating the original musicians of Led Zeppelin. Most spectacular visually is Chris Cawte, whose amazing gift for playing the guitar, especially his handling of a double-neck instrument and also the way he uses the violin bow to play his guitar a la Jimmy Page, prompts the crowd to stand on their toes, as if this would make them come a little closer to Cawte. With his “Page” brilliant white, embroidered outfits, tumbling, jet-black long locks and his gleaming, high-tech electric guitars, Cawte is a sight not to be missed under any circumstances. However, the drummer, Simon Jeffrey, does just as great a job of impersonating the late and great John Bonham right from the start of the show, but it’s his bare-handed drum solo of the Moby Dick number that gives you the goose-bumps. Steve Turner is another seasoned professional who does John Paul Jones great justice with his wizardry on bass and keyboards.

THE ZZ TOPS
Fans of the original Texas trio, ZZ Top, will not be disappointed in their clones, the Rev. Billy F Bigguns (guitar/vocals), Dusty Thrills (bass/vocals) and Franks Weird (drums). When the band was first formed, just three years ago, the two guitarists had to don fake beards to resemble the “real McCoy”. Last year, they were able to throw the fakes away as the beards were a decent length and this year, both gentlemen can proudly show off their chest-length beards. But looks aside, this three-piece band certainly do justice to the original American blues-rock band, which, by the way, is still going strong after more than 40 years on the road, and they also take first prize for being the only famous band in the world to feature the original line-up for 40 continuous years.
The appearance onstage of this tribute band, with their cheap, dark sunglasses and Hillbilly-style attire, and playing those fabulous American bluesy numbers always has a positive effect on the audience, most of who can’t wait to jump to their feet and dance. There is also a humorous twist to this show when the place is suddenly invaded by scores of ZZ-Top clones, complete with sunglasses, caps and little toy guitars – on sale at the festival – doing a mock performance of the band while the live show is on. This band certainly makes your feet tap all the way through, because not only is the music the kind that you can jive to, but these three musicians at the festival know exactly how to get the crowd going. They have a superb sense of humour on and off stage and they have the knack of knowing exactly how to connect with the audience.
They look you in the eye while singing, which makes you feel as if they are singing just for you. Not many musicians in the world do that, especially those who like to hide behind their instruments or those who just stare into space, dying for the show to end. Most fans expect them to sound like Texans when they sing but they decided against that right from the start because with their typical English country accent, the bearded twosome would look rather odd trying hard to sound like cowboys. Let’s face it only the real Billy Gibbons – regarded as America’s best ever blues hard rock guitarist – and Dusty Hill can sing with a thick Texas drawl on stage and not look awkward. The ZZ Tops tribute band are looking more and more like the real singers with their genuine, long and fuzzy beards, except they’re much taller and also younger. Within minutes of the show having started there are only a small handful of people still sitting, as the Rev. Billy F and Dusty work their magic with the crowds, encouraging them with their brilliant audience manipulation to tear the place down. If you were never a fan of ZZ Top in the past, or lived on another planet when La Grange or Sharp Dressed Man were playing on all the radio stations around the world, you will be instantly mesmerised when you watch this handsome threesome on stage. Friends of mine who never really listened to ZZ Top before, were bowled over by this tribute band and have become devoted fans.