Tour de Force - Solomon Islands 7

March 5, 2007 to March 8, 2007

When the Commander of the Military Forces in the Solomon Islands made an off-handed comment that he would love to have James Blundell entertain his troops, he was amazed when, after a quick phone call, James accepted the invitation.

This special request was made because James is a Queenslander from the land and had a personal link to the 25/49 Royal Queensland Regiment - his grandfather fought with the 25th in Palestine.

Two months later James, along with the Dianna Corcoran, or Corky as she prefers, (oh what a voice and can she yodel!!!), pub covers artist Gerard Zarb and comedian Fred Lang were there providing some much appreciated entertainment.

While we went there to entertain Australian forces serving with the Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands (RAMSI) we also had the pleasure of playing to members of the military forces from New Zealand and Tonga as well as to members of the Participating Police Forces from all over the region including the Australian Federal Police.

The tour consisted of 8 performances:

1 x informal jam session on 5 March at a welcoming BBQ put on by the Australian Army and held at the main Participating Police Forces base (Guadalcanal Beach Resort - not really a resort but it was near the beach on Guadalcanal);

1 x acoustic unplugged set for Army personnel providing security for the Solomon Island's major prison (Rove);

1 x acoustic set for the Army’s forward operating base in Honiara (based at Telekom);

1 x acoustic unplugged set for the Tongan Platoon at White River (just to the east of Honiara). In fact we believe the Tongan’s entertained us more than we did them with their own impromptu concert for us;