-an OD of Love-

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 ban...

Everyone has his or her own interpretation of what a tribute band is or should be. In my humble experience, a tribute band is usually headed by a decent singer that can hit a majority of the notes of the singer he/she is trying to imitate and a capable band that is typically nowhere near the skill level of the band they are copying but does a decent job mimicking their heroes. Overall, most tribute bands do a fairly decent job at paying homage to the musical past of some of the top legends in music and, for the most part I am satisfied paying 10 or 15 bucks to see them as they are adequate and I may never get an opportunity to see the real deal anytime soon so I am pacified. Sometimes you run across a tribute band that really rocks and exceeds your expectations such as the Van Halen tribute band the Atomic Punks, the All-Female AC/DC tribute band Hell's Belles or the Led Zeppelin tribute band No Quarter. All three of these bands rock and they each have exceeded my expectations and ...

So many of the old classic rockers (and by that we mean the folks dominating FM radio in the late 60s and 70s—and for that matter, now) choose to rest on their success, to simply parrot their past triumphs on record and wallow in the past in concert. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, if you still enjoy playing the old stuff, and it comes through in your performance, who's to say you shouldn't play it? But it leaves an artist, no matter how great, in the uncomfortable position of being a nostalgia act and let’s face it, artistically irrelevant in the contemporary music landscape. Robert Plant, who shall forever have the title "former Led Zeppelin front man" attached to his name, despite having not been in that band since 1980, is not one of those artists. A fascination with world music, especially that found in Northern Africa and the Middle East, that dates back to his Zeppelin days has ensured a degree of adventurousness not often found in so-called "herit...

For one night only, the 29th of June 2007, the fans of good old rock music were treated to an evening like no other, an evening that sent shock waves throughout the crowded streets as Brian Adams well and truly rocked our little island.This was the first and hope, not the only Maltese date for Brian, whom at the end of the concert he also confirmed that the rumours that he has some Maltese blood rushing thru his veins, were for real. He certainly didn’t disappoint his fans in his more then two hour long set at Luxol’s Football ground in St. Andrews. The concert, in aid of the ‘Find Madeleine’ campaign was a cavalcade of rock. Opening for Brian was the veteran Maltes band Winter Moods, a band with some varied and interesting tunes, which were toe-tapping pieces of music brilliance. This little known abroad band, who have four fantastic albums and two EPs under their belt (my favourite being Morning Ale) and have a great follow up in Malta, have a special way to lift the crowds spirit a...

'Minghajr Flus, minghajr flus ghalxejn jiprova jaqbadni l-gharus ghax minghajr flus, minghajr flus la tghannaq u l-anqas tbus' these are some of the lyrics from the latest version of ‘On again Off again’ of Julie and Ludwig as interpreted in maltese by the crew of Zoo, which yesterday I had the chance to watch it being sung at the MCC theater in Ta’Qali. Julie and Ludwig where not the only famous people who where victimized, but even the people watching the show were brought up on stage and been called names. The gang of zoo even had fun taking the piss and mistreating them or throwing them out of the theatre without any reason. Putting aside that the show started 20 minutes late, the large amount of adverts that make you feel like you are not in a theatre but in front of a TV watching some local channels, an uncomfortable seat that was not even big enough for a child to fit in and that some of the gigs were very vulgar and I don’t find vulgar words or vulgar gestures funny, I ...

Looks like it is gonna be another summer graced with concerts of a great calibre. FANTASTIC...to be sincere I still can’t believe that Roger Waters was here and I saw him LIVE in Malta. I’m not saying that the other performers who played concerts here were bad (I didn’t like Sting’s performance). I really enjoyed watching Elton John, Tina Turner, Marco Masini especially his last performance in the Gozo theatre. All three know how to get in touch with their audience. I didn’t enjoy the Australian Pink Floyd much, probably because I have seen the real thing twice. I was also disappointed with Joe Cocker’s performance too. Now I’m looking forward to the next best of this year especially the Malta Blues Wine Festival. Robert Plant, the legendary front man of the 1970s rock band Led Zeppelin, is one of the international artists that will be playing live during the Malta Blues Wine Festival, next July.Robert Plant is expected to be in Malta for two days, and will be playing at a yet undisclo...