Tag Archives: event

Qormi Air-Raid War Shelters

Casal Fornaro is an event that happens in my home town Qormi, on a yearly basis. This is a festival which celebrates bread, and how it represented the town through the years, even during wars. During the time when the island was under attack, bread was made out of rice and tasted horrible, but at least it ensured that the citizens had something to eat. Nowadays the city of Qormi is still renowned for bread and together, we celebrate an event full of bread, pastries and culture.

On this day, the two local war shelters are open for the public, and to me, these deserve a visit every year.

In one of the shelters there is a re-enactment from World War 2, explaining the situation of the poor and the politicians. Then you are allowed to roam around the shelter and imagine for yourself what life was like during that time. The re-enactment happens in Maltese which is a disadvantage for any tourists visiting, however one can still visually appreciate the surroundings.

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In the second war shelter, there is a bread exhibition sponsored by the leading bakery ‘MayPole’ – One can find fancy bread available in the shelter just for viewing as can be seen in the images below.

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One is able to buy similar bread through the many stalls in the festival as well as from their bakery any other day of the year.

Lip Syncing

What are your thoughts about lip syncing?

Lip syncing, is very similar to miming. In the sense that one would sing or talk ‘soundless’ and right on time with the audio. Artists do this when they are not confident singing live or perhaps when they are feeling poorly.

I despise this trait that singers nowadays seem to be doing on TV as well as in some concerts. This has happened to me last Friday when I went to Festa Palazz.

There was a medium sized crowd watching in front of the stage, and one particular singer who this year has been quite famous in Malta, for reasons I won’t write here to keep the anonymity, who was lip-syncing. It was so obvious that it was making me annoyed. If I could spot it, so could the rest of the audience. Maybe I care too much about the music, to not let it bother me. But why on earth would you go on stage, and not make a live performance? Especially considering that artists before you have done this, even with live instruments!! The sound was excellent, there was no excuse.

I would love to know your point of view, as to know if I am overreacting… But shouldn’t the live music be live in such events?

Thoughts and Dreams

Last night I was going through my stuff and I came across the leaving card my ex colleagues in England gave me. I reread all the messages and it made think on what could have my life been like if I never left.

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I am still in love with all things British and sometimes I fear I have made a bad decision. I love being close to my family and friends but I miss the green, the nature, the events, the sense of peace and calm in my
stoke life that only that country seems to give me.

With all things going in my life.. especially the house and the cats it should totally feel like I’ve settled down. But truth be told, I wish I could be in two places at once. Or perhaps I can live some of my life here and some there.

But for that to happen I need to be rich or be in a situation were I can work from anywhere in the world and actually afford such comfort.

Now that I have put this on paper I hope that I can put this thought to rest; At least until two months time when I will be travelling to South Wales, London and possibly Kent. God I miss you!

Of HayFever and Fun

This weekend was not an eventful weekend, mostly cos I had a lot of my plans cancelled due to a losing battle against my nose aka hayfever.
I started off Friday feeling miserably sick  so decided I should stay in. I spent my Friday swallowing pills and gutted that I had to miss an event happening at Razzett l-ahmar. When I woke up Saturday morning I felt almost as good as new. The plan was to go to Valletta with my mum to pick up our passports. Turns out we got delayed and found the passport office closed. I would have never guessed that they’d close at 11am on Saturday! We arrived only a few minutes late and we were devastated. I guess I know what I will be doing next Saturday morning!!
In the evening me and two friends went out to Coconut/Remedy which is the only alternative and metal pub still standing in Paceville. There was a live event of Martyrium and afterwards a goth/ebm event.
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The gig itself was awesome. I was very impressed with their new material and some of their cover versions, mainly Dimmu Borgir. The party afterwards was a let down as no one would dance and most people vanished straight after the live music was over.
But our night was not over… We went downstairs and enjoyed 80s music and Rammstein music for the rest of the night. It’s my favourite music style anyway so I was not really gutted about the ebm party.
20150418 -  Where the light DIES (Martyrium Gig @Remedy)
On Sunday, my hayfever decided to take over again so I spent my day being lazy. I watched the most awaited first episode of the new season for Orphan Black and then straight after I watched ‘Secrets and LIes’ – a series which I recently discovered.

Alternative Gig tonight at Razzett l-Ahmar

If you have no plans for tonight, consider an alternative evening featuring 4 local bands. The headliners are For Strings Inn, who are quite well known on the island especially after their latest album last year.

Bands participating are:

for strings

Doors open at 20:30 and the entrance fee is 5 Euro.
Location: Razzett L-Ahmar (Triq id-Durumblat, Mosta/Attard)

Razzett l-Ahmar Limits of Mosta

The sun has set on… Rock the South Malta

Attending a festival such as Rock the South, makes me realise how much talent there is in such a small island, and how unfortunate it is that most of these bands will not make it far because of lack of proper marketing and how difficult it is both money-wise as well as luck-wise to get recognised and heard by music labels; Let alone being chosen to tour within Europe and further away.

It’s very hard to chose and pick my favourite bands that participated within these 4 amazing days, but my favourite picks are:

1. For Strings Inn – My top favourites from the whole 45+ bands. I have followed these guys since 2009 or 2010 and they have come a long way. The vocals has improved so much and the music is not repetitive whatsoever. These guys rock my socks.

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2. Massacre House Party – Loved their music videos but never seen them live until this festival. Must say they do not disappoint and sure know how to party and get the crowd going! Won’t be the last time seeing these guys.

3. Brodu – Seen them live twice in a month; varied music, sometimes serious, sometimes almost funny. What about the jokes? All the guys are hilarious, especially the drummer!

4. Cosmic Erotic – Mentioned them once, but will mention them again. Just amazing, with the right promotion this band could make it far.

5. Sempliciment tat-Triq – A pleasant surprise for someone like me who’s not a big fan of hiphop and rap. That French guy did certainly give them the edge!

Honourable mention goes to… The Silent Disco! I have never experienced this before in my life, and I most certainly wish that events like this will happen again, possibly with a bigger spectrum of music genres.

One of my huge disappointments during this festival, apart from the fact that it had to end sometime, is that Cable 35 cancelled their participation pretty much at the last minute (on the day) and left their fans baffled. No words can be said when I looked at people’s faces… I am not their biggest fan but I can say that it also killed some of my buzz that night.

One other mistake I made from my end is taking my camera without an SD Card. Yes, I was really pissed at myself, but these things happen I guess…

I would like to thank from the bottom of my heart the organisers of this festival as well as Zion for hosting it. I look forward for a bigger and better one next year! For now we can only dream and hope… But the count down has already begun!

Rock the South MALTA – 9th-12th April

rdsFinally, the day is upon us! Tomorrow is the first day of a four day festival which happens in the South of Malta. The location is Marsascala and this happens in the limits of Zion, right opposite Thomas Bay.

Although this will be the first time I will be attending, I have heard good things about it and it is why I am looking so much forward to it. There will be two stages, merchandise area, indoor and outdoor bar, food stalls as what is known as a silent disco area. During the weekend before the weekend starts,, there’s the chillout area open for those attending!

This looks like it’s going to be the ‘place to  be’ in the next days.

Have a look at the line-up and further below you can have a listen to a couple of bands which will be rocking the stages in the coming days. Do say hi if you make it to this fest 😉

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My very favourite: Massacre House Party

Zatopeks

For Strings Inn

Crux (Teaser of Upcoming Video)

China

Sempliciment tat-Triq

Bass Culture

Siggiewi World War Shelters

So, I have been slightly quiet the last few days, but I guess I needed some me time, as I have been very busy with work. I have made two new friends over the weekend, which was great too.

On Sunday, the Siggiewi World War Shelters opened for the very first time. There were a lot of people so it was difficult to get a lot of pictures. But this will give you a brief idea. For those who have been to Siggiewi, these shelters are right under the main piazza, so they are pretty massive. I used to think that the ones in Qormi are quite big, but it’s nothing compared to these shelters; corridors upon corridors, with small rooms which the families themselves dug to have their own private space.

Great work done by the Siggiewi Local Council who opened this for the public.

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Solar Eclipse

Have you managed to see the solar eclipse?

Are you stuck at work?

Is it too cloudy where you are?

This is what I managed to capture in the not so sunny Malta:

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50% Off on Heritage Malta Museums in Gozo this Sunday

Benefit from a discount of 50% this Sunday 1st of March, when you visit 4 of the museums available in the Citadel Gozo.

The weather is looking promising this weekend so you can take advantage of this and have a day out 🙂

I have been Gozo Museum of Archaeology and also to the Folklore Museum and I can vouch for them.

Prices are ridiculously low as can be seen in the advert below:

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Enjoy! X