As this year heads towards its dying days, it might be worthwhile to remember that it marked the 50th anniversary of the birth of rock 'n roll. It is been half a century since Elvis recorded Its alright mama for Sun Records.

I could not have celebrated this anniversary in a grander way. Never in my wildest dreams did I hope to meet Roger Hodgson of Supertramp, Steve Hackett of Genesis, Fish and Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull. If, when I was a teenager in Gozo wearing shoulder length hair, bell-bottomed jeans and my precious wet-look black bomber jacket, someone had told me that I would one day grow up to interview these four men, I would have politely asked him to stop smoking so much hash.

For me, these men were gods. When I started to get into their music in the late sixties, I was considered to be too young to be allowed to cross over to Malta on my own to buy their first records. Now, a few decades on, I find myself hanging out with them and asking them any question that popped to mind. Hackett about the impossible challenge of dominating the acoustic guitar, Hodgson about the genealogy of Supertramp melodies, Ian Anderson about his musical finickiness.

And then there was the interview on stage with Fish. Well, we had to do that one over again as we were both too drunk and pissed each other off completely. Thank God we did not come to blows as this year we would have had to call the programme Bondiminus. Yet, in true rockers’ style, we sobered up by the next day, made up and it was take two as if nothing happened.

Those of you who were there when these four bands hit the stage on Manoel Island last summer could see and hear what musical stuff these men are made of. With Valletta in the background, it was pure magic. For you who were there and for those who were’nt, you now have an opportunity to relive or live for the first time the Classic Rock Experience.

The Bondiplus team has filmed the entire festival, interviewed the stars, got a peek at what happened backstage, filmed the sound checks, the setting up, interviewed audience members and much else. And we are going to transmit it all as a two-part special edition of Bondiplus on Tuesday and the one following it.

Steve Hackett turned out to be a soft-spoken English gentleman with impeccable manners and a gentleness that is rare to find in this day and age. One of the memories I will take intact to my grave is a lunch I had with him and his wife Kim at a restaurant in Valletta. Hannah, my nine-year old, was my date. Now Hannah is not, shall we say the reticent type. Lunch banter started with Steve grabbing Hannah’s hand and telling her that her fingers were perfect for playing the guitar. Poor Steve, he did not know what he let himself into. Throughout the entire meal he had to sit there and listen to Hannah tell him her entire life story, the low down on her class mates, her favourite books and music and what not. When she mentioned that she liked Black Eyed Peas I wanted to crawl under the table.

The Genesis guitarist could not get a word in edgewise. Yet

not only was he patient but actually encouraged her to continue, not that she needed much egging on. This is a man who played

Supper’s Ready with Peter Gabriel for millions of people around the world. And there he was, humouring a pushy nine-year old girl.

I was warned that Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull was a very difficult, grumpy man to deal with and that I should be careful what to ask him and how. I observed him during the sound check and the warnings sounded authentic. He was shooting around the stage huffing and puffing like a crazed man, checking everything himself and complaining over the tiniest details.

Yet when I came to interview him he was a pleasure. He was witty, generous with his time and self-critical. During Bondiplus you will hear him admit with regret that he made three mistakes during the Manoel Island concert. He even admitted that he has written and performed a number of songs which today make him cringe. We chatted at length about whether there is such a thing as ‘classic’ rock music and what makes it so. With sales of around 60 million albums and more than 2500 concerts in 40 countries, he should know.

Roger Hodgson, was yet another sort of breed. He is a pathologically nice and sunny man. He exudes an aura of peace and serenity around him without uttering a word. Despite the adversities he encountered to pull off a marvellous one-man show – including massive ones with the keyboards – he never complained. What I loved most about Hodgson was the sincerity of his love for the classic Supertramp songs. Unlike so many rock bands who peddle their most recent material when the fans hanker for the old stuff, Hodgson belted out the standards from the depth of his heart as if he were singing them for the first time.

So this Tuesday and the following, send the kids to bed, open a bottle of vintage red wine, put your feet up on the coffee table and enjoy a few hours of rock as it was always meant to be played. Have a merry Christmas

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