It started off with a concert every few years, moving on to a concert every year. Now Maltese music lovers have so much to choose from, as several organising bodies are doing their utmost to bring over world-famous singers, and others who are not so popular but who do have a following in Malta.
Many Maltese have been to concerts abroad, but the bringing over of singers to Malta is a different story as it opens the doors of such activities to many more people, particularly those who never travel or do not have the means to do so.
Over the past months, the trend of such concerts seems to have increased to cover winter and the shoulder months. In December last year we had Claudio Baglioni coming over for a solo concert and then Marco Masini making the trip for a double take, as one concert did not satisfy the demand.
More recently, we have had Amedeo Minghi turn up and, then it was Michele Zarrillo’s turn, followed by world star Sting.
The next on the list is Roger Waters, who earned world fame with Pink Floyd. Added to all this, we have also had and will have tribute bands performing in Malta too.
In previous years, we had Eros Ramazzotti and Elton John play to a Maltese crowd.
The fact that these concerts are generally speaking so well-attended encourages organisers to bring over more singers.
As said earlier, from concerts being held every now and then we have arrived to a point when such activities are held on a regular basis.
Such events should have the full backing of the Malta Tourism Authority, and indeed most of them do.
This is because Malta can become an important venue for concerts, and this could help bring over more tourists to Malta, particularly from the southern part of Europe.
It is known that Italians and Sicilians have flown over to Malta to watch their favourite Italian singers perform here. They did not have the opportunity to do so in their own country, but the short distance that separates Malta from Italy made it possible for them to be here for the concerts.
The MTA would therefore do well to help in the promotion of such events as they could be a boost for the tourism industry. It could be another niche market that we are looking for to push tourism figures and income up.
There is no doubt that organisers get involved in great expenses to bring over such established artists.
The planning of such concerts as well as the renting of venues carry a lot of costs and, one way or another, these costs have to be retrieved. This leads them to fix prices which, to many people, are on the high side.
This newspaper has carried letters in this sense. People have complained about the price of such concerts, and although they could afford to buy tickets for one such activity every now and then, some found it hard to attend to all concerts because of their close proximity, considering the expenses involved, even though they would have liked to.
These complaints should not be ignored by the organisers of such concerts because, on the whole, they want as many patrons as possible. Perhaps better planning and the establishing of a concert calendar could help.
But, apart from this, organisers should be commended for their efforts in giving so many Maltese the opportunity to see famous singers perform here.