The Pattaya City Expats Club held their latest meeting at the Holiday Inn on Sunday 19th November. There was a good PCEC member turnout despite Beach Road being closed to traffic as part of the Fleet Parade festivities.
At the start of the meeting, Club Chairman Roy Albiston informed the audience of some very sad news. Governing Board member Jerry Dean had passed away the previous Friday. He mentioned that Jerry will be missed by all, not only as a friend, but as a stalwart member of the PCEC; one who contributed significantly by creating and maintaining the Club’s social media Facebook and YouTube sites and ensured that video/audio portions of the meeting were well presented. There was then a minute of silence in memory of Jerry.
This week’s program was a musical event with Pattaya based musicians performing a variety of music as well as some anecdotes from their careers. Roy said that Jerry would be the first to say that we should continue on with our scheduled program.
The duo Bernie Webb on guitar and Paul Rosenberg on double bass (a sizeable instrument to transport between performance venues) commenced their program with John Lennon’s “Imagine” – and this soon had the audience singing along. Other well-known songs by Cliff Richards and Lonnie Donegan kept the happy mood going. Our entertainers highlighted that a great many musical stars had retired to Pattaya, and that you should not be too surprised to bump into them at your local supermarket. It was also noted by Bernie that there are a number of recording studios located in Pattaya. They also highlighted that a large musical concert takes place in Pattaya during Burapha Bike Week at the indoor stadium on Soi Chaiyapruek in February and invited everyone to attend the next one.
The duo then performed Elvis Presley’s “It’s Now or Never” – with the audience joining in. After which, they were then joined on stage by a third member to make up their trio – vocalist Keith Wilson. Keith commenced by singing “Dream” – made famous by the Everly Brothers. A number of other well-known songs then followed: Bye Bye Love, Oh Carol, and several more. These popular songs from yesteryear had the audience singing along and rocking in their chairs like teenagers. They concluded with a rendition of Frank Sinatra’s “I Did It My Way,” but they followed that with a request from the audience, the Beatle’s “It’s Been a Hard Day’s Night”.
At the end of their performance the trio were thanked enthusiastically by the MC and an appreciative audience. After the entertainment, MC Roy Albiston brought everyone up to date on upcoming events. This was followed by the “Open Forum” portion of the meeting, where questions are asked and answered and comments made about expat living in Thailand. For more information on the Club and their activities, visit www.pcec.club.
