Update on Concord's Malta Tour
11th - 16th October

Further details have now been finalised for CONCORD’s ground-breaking tour of Malta this coming October. As this will be the first-ever visit of a drum and bugle corps to the historic Mediterranean island, CONCORD are working very hard to ensure a memorable experience for both the corps and its audiences. The event is a major international week-long Historic Cities Festival with a major event within that being the Valetta Military Tattoo.

The corps will fly to Malta from Manchester – carrying all our own uniforms and instruments (a major logistical headache) and definitely different from piling it all on the truck for a cross-channel ferry ride. After an early morning arrival on Thursday and a sightseeing tour of the island, we go straight into a full rehearsal of the Tattoo beginning at 8pm. The show is held in a wonderfully-converted and atmospheric St George’s Square – the main Government car park right in the centre of the capital Valetta. The arena is surrounded by mediaeval buildings and provides a wonderful backdrop for the 2,000 per night audience to enjoy the floodlit event.

On Friday we will perform a concert in the main pedestrianised centre of Valetta where the audience will consists of tourists from all corners of the world. After this we have been invited to visit the local band club (Malta has many town bands – all with their own clubs and bars !). Friday evening sees the first of the three nights of performances as part of the Valetta Tattoo. We are in very distinguished company, the “cast list” being :

Egyptian Military Band 
with the Whirling Dervishes Dance Troupe
Band of the Bersaglieri from Italy
Gloucestershire Corps of Drums from the UK
Concord Drum & Bugle Corps
Malta Police Silent Drill Team
Malta Police Dogs
Malta Police Band
Armed Forces of Malta Band
In Guardia Mediaeval Re-enactment Group

One of the peculiarities of the event is that the Tattoo site is reached via the main street of Valetta which is totally vehicle free, so all participants must parade down the street before the Tattoo starts and then march back to the coach park at the end of the evening. Both these marches attract large numbers of non-audience spectators. At the close of each evening show there is a massed muster of all participants on the arena and combined performances of “Ode to Joy” and the National Anthem of Malta (some challenging transposing to “G” !) 

For Saturday morning we are currently negotiating to visit a local secondary school to put on a performance and “hand-on” clinic for large numbers of local school-children.

We shall be carrying a message of greeting from the Lord Mayor of Sheffield to be presented to the Mayor of Valetta at some point during the week. It is expected that ambassadors and consular officials from Britain, Italy, Egypt and Malta will join the audiences for some of the shows. The event is broadcast on local radio and television and a commemorative dvd is produced.

Following our final performance on Sunday evening (they finish about 11.00 pm) we then have to pack up all our kit ready for a VERY early Monday morning flight back to the UK. As you can see, a very busy schedule but with a good sprinkling of free time to enjoy the attractions of this Mediterranean holiday island (expected daytime temperatures around 25 – 28 degrees C).

Further details of the Malta Historic Cities Festival and the Valetta Tattoo may be found at : http://www.maltamilitarytattoo.org/

Source: Concord Drum & Bugle Corps
26th July 2006