More "big" rock stars are lined up to play in Malta in the coming year following the overwhelming success of the Elton John concert.
Contacts with the management of other highly sought singers and bands as well as other lesser known artistes have already been established, and there was a sudden interest in Malta as a concert venue, according to NnG Promotions director Nigel Camilleri.
The first of these concerts could take place as early as December, though Dr Camilleri did not wish to disclose any details for the time being.
"Sunday's concert was a test. In the music scene Elton John is considered to be the gauge of success or failure. Elton John went away happy, and that is a certificate of success," Dr Camilleri said.
The 12,000 fans who watched the concert were treated to a 28-song, two-and-a-half hour plus set-list comprising practically his entire repertoire of greatest hits, interspersed with classics like Tonight and Take Me to the Pilot.
Dr Camilleri said he had been assured by the singer's management that Sir Elton's comment that he would return in a couple of years' time was not a passing remark but genuine.
"He was completely taken by surprise with the audience's reaction. Remember it was his first time playing here, so he had no idea what to expect," Dr Camilleri said.
Some of the music names broached by NnG are in the music premier league with Elton John, though other less mainstream artistes, such as Steve Hackett, the former Genesis' guitarist who played in Malta last November, have also been contacted to play in smaller venues.
The fact that staging of the Elton John concert at the Granaries in Floriana prompted a wave of protests from motorists and Floriana local council certainly did not unsettle the organisers. The morning rush hour traffic to the capital was slowed down considerably because one of only two arterial roads into the city had to be closed for days, and still is, while the seating terraces were put up. Motorists already broiling in the morning sun were not amused.
Dr Camilleri insisted that the Granaries were the best venue Malta could provide for the staging of large concerts, and this was amply proven on Sunday night.
Yet, it was too early to say whether the Granaries could be used to stage large-scale concerts in future.
"We do not, in any way, want to create problems, for anybody. In fact for the staging of the Elton John concert, we really did everything by the book. We got the permit from the authorities, we spoke to the local council from the very beginning, and we had government backing till the end," he said.
"But still there are always lessons to be learnt from each event. Ultimately, however, Malta gained so much publicity through this event," Dr Camilleri said.
Elton John fever was very evident by the number of CDs sold in the run-up to the concert, while many other concert-goers flocked to record shops yesterday to buy the singer's CDs.
Exotique Record Shop alone sold over 1,000 CD's of his latest greatest hits package in the last few days, no mean feat considering that Sir Elton has two other similar compilations.