Big names in a small venue

“Will the people in the cheaper seats clap your hands? And the rest of you, if you’ll just rattle your jewellery...”

That was John Lennon at the Royal Variety Show in 1963: and like many other Lennon-isms, it has since passed into legend. But while jewellery-rattling is perhaps to be expected from charity events such as the above, it tends to sound a little out of place at venues such as Luxol or the Fosos in Floriana.

The same is perhaps true of such concepts as ‘gold’, ‘silver’ and ‘platinum’ seating arrangements: all part of the scenery when it comes to opera giants like Joseph Calleja or Jose Carreras, but vaguely out of place with names like Michael Bolton and James Blunt.

For many music aficionados, it is all part of an additional price one has to pay for living off the beaten track... at least, in terms of major concert venues. Malta is in fact ‘out of the loop’ when it comes to traditional touring circuits – which in turn means that bringing artists to perform here is automatically more expensive than elsewhere.

Nonetheless, Nigel Camilleri (the ‘N’ in NnG Promotions) challenges the perception that their concerts are on the exorbitant side.

“I don't really think that is the case – very often we fall within the average parameters of the tour that the artist would be undertaking.”

This is particularly true of the upcoming Santana concert, he claims. “For most concerts on the tour the cheaper price is in the €60 euro range – far more costly than the €35 we are charging…”

Critics will counter that the real difference lies in the more expensive ticket categories, but even the most cynical among them will grumpily concede that there are valid reasons for the difference (if any) in pricing.

Nigel is the first to admit that bringing artists to Malta is an expensive affair.

“Any artist coming to Malta will inevitably charge more than you would expect to him/her to charge for mainland Europe, because we cost that much more for the artist (including band and crew) to get here.”

Nor is it just the cost of travel alone: there are additional logistical constraints depending on the same artists’ schedule.

“The fact we are not connected to the mainland does not allow any of the trucks to leave immediately after a show to be at the next venue the following evening,” Nigel adds. What this effectively means is that performing will cost the artist two days’ worth of touring elsewhere.

“This means two extra days of equipment rental, band and crew wages… all extra costs for the artists… which have to be recouped from somewhere.”

Even without these considerations, Malta poses other unique challenges for the would-be concert organiser.

“We lack the necessary infrastructure to stage major events,” Nigel points out. “There is no outdoor venue with all the necessary amenities for concerts – this means that for every concert we have to build a venue from scratch.”

Demographics do not help, either. Nigel often finds himself having to repeat the same answers to music fans who consistently ask for the biggest names in the business.

“We are often asked why we don’t get groups like U2,” Nigel begins. “The trouble is, the really big artists like those work on different parameters from the ‘smaller’ ones. They ask for a minimum turn-out guarantee, which is absolutely unfeasible for a country of Malta’s population. Furthermore, their production would range to tens of trucks: all of which would have to arrive on the day of the show and leave immediately after, something which is impossible to achieve as we are not connected by road (or bridge) to mainland Europe…”

Considering the extent of the logistical difficulties concerned, it seems unreasonable to put even more obstacles in the concert organisers’ path. And yet this is precisely what happened at NnG’s most recent gig: when the police, acting on a questionable interpretation of the law, prohibited the sale of alcohol at last month’s James Blunt concert in Floriana. Is Nigel concerned that the same issue will crop up for future events?

He responds to this with barely concealed frustration: “As we have already stated in public, we support the ban on alcohol sales to persons under 17 years…”

But with all disclaimers out of the way, he argues that “a total ban on everyone present is possibly counter-productive.”

“The hard work and financial resources invested by the Malta Tourism Authority and private event promoters to help Malta evolve into an event destination are being jeopardised due to unreasonable legislation. All over the world, the sale of alcohol during concerts is allowed, provided that minors are precluded from purchasing alcoholic beverages…”

The same is incidentally true of nightclubs, bars and so on. But in Malta’s case, the enforcement of an age limit on the purchase of alcoholic beverages is being made through a total ban on alcohol sales to the entire concert audience… making us possibly the only concert venue in Europe to place a blanket alcohol ban.

But following a public outcry, Nigel Camilleri is confident that the practice will not be making an encore this summer.

“We are convinced common sense will prevail and government will review the law. Otherwise, this interpretation of the law will jeopardise other public events due to be held over the summer months.”

Such events include the Isle of MTV concert – organised in collaboration with the Tourism Ministry – and also a much-anticipated concert by Carlos Santana on July 24.