Rockin' the island

The Malta Classic Rock Festival will be held at Manoel Island on July 31 and August 1. Lou Bondì explains what it is all about.

Who's organising it?

The festival is a joint effort of MIDI plc, the consortium developing Manoel Island and Tigné Point, NnG promotions, who brought over Elton John and Eros Ramazzotti, and Where's Everybody.

Who are the performers?

On Saturday, July 31, the line-up consists of Fish former Marillion frontman and Roger Hodgson, Supertramp's main songwriter and vocalist. Fish will be playing his stuff along with a lot of classics from the Marillion repertoire. Mr Hodgson will be taking the audience through the long list of Supertramp songs, from Dreamer to Breakfast in America to Give a Little Bit.

The following night, that is August 1, is in the hands of Jethro Tull and Steve Hackett, ex-Genesis.

Jethro Tull's Aqualung and Thick as Brick were defining masterpieces in the history of classic rock. We will be hearing bits of them courtesy of a full band including Ian Anderson on vocals and flute and Martin Barre on guitar.

Steve Hackett will conclude the Malta Classic Rock Festival 2004 in style. He's coming with a full electric band, playing classic Genesis along with his phenomenal solo output.

Malta's own Winter Moods and Beangrowers will be the opening acts on the two nights respectively.

What was the inspiration behind this festival?

The decade spanning 1965-75 was the golden age of classic rock. The level of musical innovativeness, experimentation and creativity during this period was amazing and has not been repeated since. What is happening to rock is very similar to what has happened to traditional classical music. The genius of Bach, Mozart and Beethoven was never repeated. Likewise we will never have another Beatles, Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin.

Our intention is to provide two wonderful summer evenings during which those who grew up with the classics of rock can relive their musical youth. More broadly, we also hope to attract rock fans of all ages.

If this edition of the Malta Classic Rock Festival 2004 works, we intend to make it a yearly and, hopefully, bigger event.

So is Malta Classic Rock Festival 2004 a nostalgia trip for oldies?

Classic rock attracts fans of all ages, precisely because of its timelessness. The smarter members of every new generation of rock lovers know that there is something unique and wonderful about the music of Supertramp, Jethro Tull and Genesis. And rockers today are voting with their feet. A quick look at concerts being held around Europe shows that a lot of the 1960s and 1970s classic rock bands are again in very high demand. On our part, we are already pleasantly surprised with the large number of requests for Malta Classic Rock Festival 2004 tickets from fathers who are coming to rock with their sons and daughters.

Will people have a chance to meet the bands?

On the day before the festival members of the bands will be at one of the Exotique outlets for a CD signing session. Details will be released later on. It should be good fun as well.

Why Manoel Island? What's the stage going to be like?

Manoel Island offers a uniquely spectacular view of Valletta. The stage is being designed with this in mind - just the bands on a simple stage with the magnificently lit up capital city as a backdrop. It should be pure rock heaven.

How long has the Malta Classic Rock Festival been in the pipeline?

We have been working on it for a few months now. Almost from the day after we recovered from the Welcomeurope Grand Harbour event exhaustion. It was not easy to find a weekend on which these four star bands could play in Malta. Finally, we managed and we are really looking forward to it.

Tickets for the Malta Classic Rock Festival are Lm15 for each of the two nights, Lm25 for both. They are available from any Exotique outlet in Malta and Gozo, from www.nngpromotions.com or call 7900ROCK (7900 7625).