Despite complaints, future fests to be held in front of concrete behemoths

Thousands of people flowed around the entrance of CentralWorld last Saturday during the 12th edition of Bangkok's "Fete de la Musique".

Born in France in 1982, the festival is held on the first day of summer, making June 21 the day that music lovers in more than a hundred cities worldwide can indulge in free performances all day.

In Bangkok, the music marathon started at 2pm and continued until early the next morning, with an audience of 6,000-plus.

As one would expect at a festival with more than 25 bands performing anything from jazz to pop and ska to electronic, audience members had to take their chances. Pierre Ladurthe, chief of the cultural department at the Alliance Francaise, says he was delighted to see amateur bands perform alongside established acts - a true reflection of the "Fete de la Musique" spirit.

"In France amateur musicians play in the street all day, and we wanted to do the same here," he says.

However, the music got decidedly better and the crowd grew larger as the amateurs stepped down and more established groups took over. The highlight of the evening came at 11pm when local favourites T-Bone hit the stage with their lively ska beats, followed by the French drum-and-base duo Gong Gong performing an excellent set enhanced by fancy props and elaborate lighting. By the time the festival ended, the only complaints people had were related to the venue.

"La Fete was better last year, because it was in a park - much better than in front of a shopping centre," lamented one woman. Gap, the lead singer of T-Bone, echoed the sentiment after the show: "It was great, very cool … but I don't like playing in front of a department store."

Unfortunately, the venue is not likely to change anytime soon.