It had to be Brian May. Queen Elizabeth had him play at HER celebrations.
We have been told that Brian May is to play in Malta as part of the multiple anniversary celebrations, on 5 April. I didn’t know that there was a national holiday on 5 April, did you?
The nearest one to that date is Jum Il-Helsien, the anniversary of the date that Britain snubbed Mintoff, packed up and shipped out, and left him desperate for money and grovelling to Muammar Gaddafi.
And of course, whoever organised this missed not only the sublime irony of hiring a British musician who played for the British queen to celebrate the day the British snubbed Mintoff and Mintoff rebranded the occasion as the day he kicked out the British.
Whoever organised this also missed the point of having somebody like Brian May participate in national celebrations. When May played at the royal jubilee celebrations, standing on the highest and most prominent point of Buckingham Palace, the event was pure symbolism. That was the point, and not his music.
There you had one of the world’s best-known British musicians, standing atop Britain’s royal palace, playing God Save the Queen: a statement of Britishness and monarchy broadcast to the world. May was not just a hired musician there to entertain the crowds: he was an integral part of the symbolism, the celebration of Britishness and above all, the celebration of monarchy. If he were not both British and a royalist, he would not have been there.
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http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20140210/local/may.506245#.UvjCY8u9KSM
Well, our PM can always have Renato moaning “Mietna għall-barrani” on top of Auberge de Castille.
Same thing
It is unfortunate that Gensna was pitched at such at outdated-nationalistic tone which allowed it to be claimed by Labour. The music is not bad at all.
“The music is nor bad at all”. You may as well say that North Korean music isn’t bad.
Labour didn’t claim Gensna as its own. Gensna is the Labour version of history, complete with Drydocks workers twirling in oilskins and helmets singing “aghtuna x-xoghol”.
La Redoute: a musical’s main elements are text and music, hence my comment.
” Gensna is the Labour version of history, ”
It’s for the composer and author to answer for that: they wrote it, Labour claimed it.
Don’t give those ruddy Laburisti any ideas please – they might take you seriously.
@La Redoute:
Perhaps these kids will also be performing for our festivities, ‘ghax taf int, il-vera helwin’?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pl6f_XwMhMM
For even more symbolism, he has been playing with the band “Queen” since 1970. That’s generations of British fans.
OH. Surprise…surprise. We are going to have GENSNA again as part of the celebrations
Don’t insinuate, Daphne. Since Malta is now going to be the best in the galaxy, they had no choice other than to opt for someone with a PhD in astrophysics (from a world-class college).
5 April – just a month before election day – smells like this will be turned into a “we will rock you” / “taghna lkoll” event.
Will Brian May be knocking out “Ma taghmlu xejn mal-Perit Mintoff” on the highest point of the Auberge de Castille?
I think that would be performed by a Chinese choir. No point in having a cultural agreement with China if you can’t get the next best thing after the original North Koreans of the 80s.
Oh, spare me. During yesterday’s feast of St. Paul Shipwrecked, I walked past the Chinese Cultural Institute in Britannia Street (renamed Melita Street by the Mintoffian regime), and wondered how long it would be before even this feast is globalised with Chinese dance troupes.
I walked into that place once, asking for any literature they might have on Maoist figurines.
The polite lady in charge looked visibly embarrassed, she suggested it’s not something modern China’s keen on, thank you very much.
I got the Mao in bathrobe surrounded by jubilant red guards from San Francisco instead.
This isn’t going to be the first time Brian May performs in Malta. We’ve forgotten that already.
Lou Bondi and Gianni Zammit of the National Festivities Committee are living their dream.
Dream? What dream?
Steve Hackett, Elton John, Amy Stewart, Zucchero, Tina Turner, Ronan Keating – these are few of the many we’ve had performing in Malta pre-2013.
Please allow me, Daphne: LOL.
Roger Waters was here too.
Ejja, forsi igibu lill-KISS.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10152147499950560&set=a.10150697837445560.443922.516170559&type=1&theater
Gibu lil Scooter.
I see the hand of Lou Bondì.
And thirty million pieces of silver.
Brian May is most definitely royalist, as was Freddie Mercury, whose legend will not die any time soon.
http://www.brianmay.com/brian/biog.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlxozJh2JNo
Couldn’t resist.
There is not enough Vox AC 30s on the island for Brian May.
Wait let’s see if national identity surfaces in all these festivities.