All the fears of a flu no show at the Isle of MTV concert yesterday proved to be unfounded as Maltese and tourists alike flocked to the Granaries in Floriana for yet another memorable event.
The line up, just like previous MTV concerts, was fantastic and the shows put on by the bands and artistes were amazing. Granted, some people did stay away and others worse masks – some in jest, and some out of worry of contracting the flu, but all in all the people just got on with it.
Isle of MTV does not only attract a Maltese audience, but also many tourists – some of which were in Malta coincidentally and others specifically for the show. After all, the people should keep in mind that to see a concert of that magnitude, you would be paying about a hundred euro or more on the Continent.
By all accounts, access was well organised, as was the concert in general. But there was some criticism of the transport out of Valletta once the concert finished, with some people not managing to get home before 1 and 2 in the morning.
One might say that this is a small price to pay, and to be honest we would be inclined to agree, but those concerned in the organisation of transport should learn from the mistakes that have been committed. We must also remember that this is a learning curve, Malta has not hosted that many events of this magnitude and there were bound to be some problems, but as mentioned, we need to learn from where we are going wrong.
The MTA also did a good job in promoting the event and they should be commended for it. It is not right to only criticise and credit should go to the local organisers, make up artists, the MTA, the Tourism Junior Ministry and anyone else who had a hand in setting it up and seeing it through to fruition.
We understand that some scuffles broke out towards the end of the performance, with the Black Eyed Peas spotting the trouble from the stage and embarrassing those involved into submission by publicly shouting at them from the stage and telling them to stop it. Well done to the performers and shame on the troublemakers.
All in all, this was another marvelous event, and sadly, the general public is already taking it for granted. Under the current agreement, there is one Isle of MTV concert still to be held in 2010. While we understand that matters are not always simple, the government should leave no stone unturned in trying to negotiate a new deal for further performances.
The marketing opportunities are endless and if we can turn this into an annual event, then it will continue to add to Malta’s tourism product, just as it has done for the past couple of years.
Having said all this, the public should appreciate that such events are not easy to set up and execute. We are talking of world famous artistes that could be performing in the O2 Arena – just to give an example. We also reserve a last word for Lady Gaga. Many brand her weird. She might be a bit strange, but her two performances to date were excellent. She also thanked Malta for giving her the opportunity to become a star – she was a relative nobody before last year’s Isle of MTV concert. We are pleased that she recognised Malta as her big break and we are sure we speak for everyone when we say that we will always be pleased to see her again.