WOW what a weekend...
One of the reasons why I love the summer season in Malta (even if my favourite season remains winter) is that one is spoilt for choice when it comes to going out at night with the various activities that are being organized by the tourism ministry or by individual entertaining troupes. These weekend was one of those particular weeks were I had not to go to some particular activities for the reason that or I was too tired or the tickets were sold out a few days sometimes hours after they open at the booking office.
Even if it is not my usual cup of tea to listen to pop music especially when you keep listening to it 24/7 on whatever radio channel you tune to, I had to go to Fosos Square last Thursday to be in what has been described as the event of the year, that is the Isle of MTV. One of my favourite Maltese bands, Winter Moods marked the start of the show and from the bottom of my heart I wish that some big record company owner notice how hard working versatile, and ambitious this band is and how able they are to create a warm and buzzing atmosphere and no matter what you just can’t help not to move to the rock-ish tunes and sing them aloud and wrap yourself with someone close to you when they play their rock ballads as you notice how well the deep lyrics blend so well with what I call the whining of the electric leads and the amazing power from Ivan’s way of singing.
After some good beats and mixes by some local deejays which made the audience warm up more to the atmosphere it was Ira Losco’s turn. I absolutely don’t like this artist but I would like to remark that she did make her best (definitely not appearance wise) to increase the good feeling in the audience but I don’t think that she managed to succeed as much as Winter Moods did but otherwise she was not that bad even if the front part of the audience seemed to be following her up and cheering to her performance were the rest found this the best time to look for something to fill the stomach or the public loo. I was after the latter.
Another session from local deejay and then it was Enrique Iglesias turn to sing…sing so much out of tune that if I was not able to see that it was him on stage one could easily say that it was a 5year old boy singing his tunes at a karaoke. Mind you the sounds system was massive and loud but in my opinion his voice sounded too thin to what we usually tend to hear. His performance left me with a bitter taste and very disappointed and again it seemed that the only very avid fans were enjoying themselves. Regretfully I had to leave early being that we were both tired, my pal worried and I was told later on that I missed a good show from Maroon5 and Akon, but I was glad enough and also proud of the Maltese people who managed to set up such a huge event and I loved the way it was organized in a way that even if it was told that over 40,000 people have turned up nothing was left to be desired in the way everything flowed perfectly through the whole evening.
Another fantastic production that I managed to attend on Friday, thanks to the help of my sister who managed to get me two tickets since one of her colleagues was taking part in the show (was told that the tickets were a sold out just 3hours after the show was first time publicized) was the production of The Phantom of the Opera set up by Square Wheel entertainment in the Poste de France in the lovely fortified city of Birgu. The show simply left the audience speechless and at sometimes you couldn’t help but feel goose pimples during some parts of the interpretation especially during the masquerade march with the lovely city’s bastions lit in a wonderful way, mainly for this occasion. I was told that all the props and costumes were rented out from the real production and it was such a beautiful scene seeing the huge chandelier being pulled off stage to give the impression that is crashing on the floor. I was not able to see it being put on stage because at that time I was asked to get a drink for my guest and I didn’t have time to return to my seat to see it happen. Just before the production of the Phantom started, we were treated to 45 minutes of acoustic magic by the ex- Lord Adder guitarists Aldo and I do believe the other musician is his brother. They played a wide variety of Beatles, eagles and CCR cover versions which the way they were sung and improvised live just left me weak. We have so much talent in Malta and it is a shame that it is not so much appreciated.
I meant to go to the Beer festival on Saturday, the reason being was that there was going to be an intimate live show again from Winter Moods but to be sincere I was too tired to do it. One of the reasons was that even though Ta’ Qali boast a large amount of parking spaces I was told that most people had to park quite far away, since the turnout has been more than expected and so not as I usually do, I gave up going there and again I was told that I missed a good one.
I wished I could attend the Puerto Flamenco at the palace in Valletta but once again I was very disappointed to find out that there were only going to be two shows and just like last year the tickets were sold out faster than cheesecakes so I opted to go to the Mediterranean Conference Centre to watch the 4th edition of the national orchestra goes pop and the choice was as good because again I was amazed by the excellent talent that we have on our shores and it is such a treat seeing a live orchestra of more than 50 pieces in such a good coordination playing pop tracks and an array of film soundtracks and I just have no words to explain the way the amazing voices blended so well with the music to make another evening that it will take some time to forget. Some of the musicians who surpassed the others were the lead guitar Aldo Spiteri which really left a good impression again after his fantastic Friday’s performance particularly when he tried to imitate David Gilmour’s amazing solo in comfortably numb track and to a certain extent he came very close to the real thing. I love the saxophonist performance who disappointedly was very brusquely stopped by the maestro as he was improvising during the track “Oye Como Va”. Another two fantastic musicians who made an excellent impression were the head violinist who played the sound track from Schindler’s list that literately could easy leave you in tears the way the strings were plucked and played. Another evening full of emotional pleasure because in my opinion there is nothing more special when performances are made with passion skill and love to the arts, and as I love to say anything made with love and skill becomes a master piece.
Walking back to the car which was left parked in front of the Phoneica Hotel we came across a street disco and as they were playing some reggae this guy who I believed was Jamaican or had some Caribbean roots just stood up and started dancing to the tune in an amazing way and I can understand what it is with this music and the Jamaicans way of life that always brings a smile on my face and gives me that such good feeling, maybe because it reminds me of the fantastic holiday I had there...
Even if it is not my usual cup of tea to listen to pop music especially when you keep listening to it 24/7 on whatever radio channel you tune to, I had to go to Fosos Square last Thursday to be in what has been described as the event of the year, that is the Isle of MTV. One of my favourite Maltese bands, Winter Moods marked the start of the show and from the bottom of my heart I wish that some big record company owner notice how hard working versatile, and ambitious this band is and how able they are to create a warm and buzzing atmosphere and no matter what you just can’t help not to move to the rock-ish tunes and sing them aloud and wrap yourself with someone close to you when they play their rock ballads as you notice how well the deep lyrics blend so well with what I call the whining of the electric leads and the amazing power from Ivan’s way of singing.
After some good beats and mixes by some local deejays which made the audience warm up more to the atmosphere it was Ira Losco’s turn. I absolutely don’t like this artist but I would like to remark that she did make her best (definitely not appearance wise) to increase the good feeling in the audience but I don’t think that she managed to succeed as much as Winter Moods did but otherwise she was not that bad even if the front part of the audience seemed to be following her up and cheering to her performance were the rest found this the best time to look for something to fill the stomach or the public loo. I was after the latter.
Another session from local deejay and then it was Enrique Iglesias turn to sing…sing so much out of tune that if I was not able to see that it was him on stage one could easily say that it was a 5year old boy singing his tunes at a karaoke. Mind you the sounds system was massive and loud but in my opinion his voice sounded too thin to what we usually tend to hear. His performance left me with a bitter taste and very disappointed and again it seemed that the only very avid fans were enjoying themselves. Regretfully I had to leave early being that we were both tired, my pal worried and I was told later on that I missed a good show from Maroon5 and Akon, but I was glad enough and also proud of the Maltese people who managed to set up such a huge event and I loved the way it was organized in a way that even if it was told that over 40,000 people have turned up nothing was left to be desired in the way everything flowed perfectly through the whole evening.
Another fantastic production that I managed to attend on Friday, thanks to the help of my sister who managed to get me two tickets since one of her colleagues was taking part in the show (was told that the tickets were a sold out just 3hours after the show was first time publicized) was the production of The Phantom of the Opera set up by Square Wheel entertainment in the Poste de France in the lovely fortified city of Birgu. The show simply left the audience speechless and at sometimes you couldn’t help but feel goose pimples during some parts of the interpretation especially during the masquerade march with the lovely city’s bastions lit in a wonderful way, mainly for this occasion. I was told that all the props and costumes were rented out from the real production and it was such a beautiful scene seeing the huge chandelier being pulled off stage to give the impression that is crashing on the floor. I was not able to see it being put on stage because at that time I was asked to get a drink for my guest and I didn’t have time to return to my seat to see it happen. Just before the production of the Phantom started, we were treated to 45 minutes of acoustic magic by the ex- Lord Adder guitarists Aldo and I do believe the other musician is his brother. They played a wide variety of Beatles, eagles and CCR cover versions which the way they were sung and improvised live just left me weak. We have so much talent in Malta and it is a shame that it is not so much appreciated.
I meant to go to the Beer festival on Saturday, the reason being was that there was going to be an intimate live show again from Winter Moods but to be sincere I was too tired to do it. One of the reasons was that even though Ta’ Qali boast a large amount of parking spaces I was told that most people had to park quite far away, since the turnout has been more than expected and so not as I usually do, I gave up going there and again I was told that I missed a good one.
I wished I could attend the Puerto Flamenco at the palace in Valletta but once again I was very disappointed to find out that there were only going to be two shows and just like last year the tickets were sold out faster than cheesecakes so I opted to go to the Mediterranean Conference Centre to watch the 4th edition of the national orchestra goes pop and the choice was as good because again I was amazed by the excellent talent that we have on our shores and it is such a treat seeing a live orchestra of more than 50 pieces in such a good coordination playing pop tracks and an array of film soundtracks and I just have no words to explain the way the amazing voices blended so well with the music to make another evening that it will take some time to forget. Some of the musicians who surpassed the others were the lead guitar Aldo Spiteri which really left a good impression again after his fantastic Friday’s performance particularly when he tried to imitate David Gilmour’s amazing solo in comfortably numb track and to a certain extent he came very close to the real thing. I love the saxophonist performance who disappointedly was very brusquely stopped by the maestro as he was improvising during the track “Oye Como Va”. Another two fantastic musicians who made an excellent impression were the head violinist who played the sound track from Schindler’s list that literately could easy leave you in tears the way the strings were plucked and played. Another evening full of emotional pleasure because in my opinion there is nothing more special when performances are made with passion skill and love to the arts, and as I love to say anything made with love and skill becomes a master piece.
Walking back to the car which was left parked in front of the Phoneica Hotel we came across a street disco and as they were playing some reggae this guy who I believed was Jamaican or had some Caribbean roots just stood up and started dancing to the tune in an amazing way and I can understand what it is with this music and the Jamaicans way of life that always brings a smile on my face and gives me that such good feeling, maybe because it reminds me of the fantastic holiday I had there...
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He has, also, translated into Portuguese the Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith.
He has been awarded several prizes.
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