Top names for rock festival

Rock legends Jethro Tull and former Supertramp frontman Roger Hodgson are among the acts booked to perform at a mid-summer classic rock festival at Manoel Island.

Marillion's ex-singer Fish, Steve Hackett and band, and local rock bands Winter Moods and Beangrowers make up the line-up for the two gigs scheduled for July 31 and August 1.

Organised by NnG, Where's Everybody? and the Midi Consortium, the festival could become an annual event.

The festival at Fort Manoel is to be launched in the coming days and tickets for the events will be available shortly, The Times has learnt. The Malta date has already been included in the bands' and singers' official website.

The event is expected to draw the crowds, especially since classic rock has somewhat been overlooked on the live circuit in Malta, despite a strong retro-rock following.

Judging by the tours currently going on in the UK, bands that had their heyday in the 1970s and 1980s are enjoying a massive revival and are once again packing concert venues.

Suffice it to say that Jethro Tull, playing on August 1, will be headlining the famous Cropredy Festival in the UK in August.

This band's mix of hard rock, folk melodies and blues has helped them sell 60 million albums, earning them 11 gold and five platinum albums, including the classics Thick as a Brick and Aqualung.

Fronted by flautist/guitarist/ singer and songwriter Ian Anderson, the group has carved a place all its own in popular music. Jethro Tull are currently touring with their original line-up.

It will be Steve Hackett's second visit to Malta, after his acoustic concert at the Manoel Theatre in October 2002. This time his gig will be targeted at the masses and Genesis fans will have something to smile about, as his concert will feature several tracks of the legendary group. Touring with his band this time, Steve Hackett, who is playing on August 1, is renowned for having explored several musical avenues with diverse influences from classical to progressive rock.

Supertramp fans will be treated to a concert by Roger Hodgson, the band's co-founder, singer and songwriter of the band on July 31.

In the wake of 1982's Famous Last Words, Roger Hodgson left Supertramp to mount a solo career, issuing his debut effort In the Eye of the Storm in 1984.

Supertramp's classic Breakfast in America, which spawned the classic songs Goodbye Stranger and The Logical Song, sold close to 20 million copies. Such songs are expected to be on the menu for the Malta concert.

Fish, who will also be playing on July 31, has an avid fan-base in Malta, thanks especially to his former days with progressive rock band Marillion.

Author of songs like Kayleigh and Lavender, the Scotsman has continued the theatrical flair of Marillion's quasi-concept albums.

Winter Moods and Beangrowers, undoubtedly two of Malta's finest rock exports, will complete the line-up.