Think Led Zeppelin’s and Luis Armstrong’s love child, add some banter and you can kick off the head-banging. Ramona Depares reviews a recent gig by Falcon’s Flying Circus.

Although Falcon’s Flying Circus have been super active on the gigging front throughout this past year, I had yet to see them in action. In fact, rather shamefully, I had yet to actually learn anything about them – particularly shameful after I learnt that these guys have been around for nine years, give or take (although the taking their music to the public part happened more recently, in my defence).

The name doesn’t really tell you much and the genre – rock’n’roll – tells you even less. Too many bands use it as a go-to descriptor. In this case, I’m happy to report, the band delivered on its promise and then some more. I arrived at Django’s in Valletta, which is where its last gig was taking place, some 10 minutes into the set. What followed were a mind-blowing 50 minutes or so where I was transported back to an era when rock really rolled and R’n’B had not yet become a dirty word.

Spike Refalo

Let’s start with the basics. These guys look the part. Three out of four sport hair that would have gained them entry at any hippy commune. The fourth one, drummer Spike Refalo, does not. But we won’t hold it against him because he does things with his drum-set that will have you forget there’s an outside world, let alone anything as mundane as hair. Oh, and the expression on his face while playing is priceless, as is that of the others. These guys are seriously having some fun while making music, which fact increases the likelihood of the audience doing likewise exponentially.

In fact, quite apart from the tight musicianship (of which there is plenty) and the strength of the band’s original pieces, it is the chemistry that these musicians share on stage that contributes enormously to the vibe the band created at Django’s. The guys’ stage presence is something else, particular in the case of vocalist (and occasional flautist) David Aquilina. He banters with the audience, he sometimes joins the crowd for a spot of head-banging and he has a voice that would have fit to a tee in some smoky basement bar in Chicago, back in the 1940s. Which is not to say that he doesn’t do the whole metal sound equally well, as he was about to show with a couple of numbers that night.

Quite apart from the tight musicianship and the strength of the band’s original pieces, it is the chemistry that contributes enormously to the vibe

The guitarist, Kurt Micallef, has skills that are no less impressive. In time-honoured rock ‘n roll fashion, a number of the band’s original tracks have lengthy guitar solos and boy, does Micallef roll with it. This is, in fact, the part where the vocalist usually opts for a spot of audience interaction.

Peter Gauci

Finally, there is bass guitarist Peter Gauci, with the understated presence that is typical of all bassists but the magic fingers that add just the right punctuation exactly when it is needed.

The set-list for the night was a mix between the band’s original work and a few covers. Using rock ‘n’ roll as an umbrella term to describe these guys’ music, however, doesn’t do it justice. Some tracks are aggressive, others come with a heavy blues influence, others still bring in the distinctive influence of jazz. And then there are those which are pure, classic rock. And, somehow, this aural melting pot of styles works and touches the soul. We moshed, we swayed, we sung along to the covers that we knew and we shouted “more” most sincerely when the set was over.

A good portion of the people knew the words to the band’s original tracks and were singing along. Given that audience participation is a rare and elusive thing on the local front, no further elaboration is needed.

In short, Falcon’s Flying Circus is easily one of the most exciting bands happening locally. Catch them, if you have the chance.