Eleven acts for the 2018 MTV Gibraltar Calling

d hype for the festival’s first announcements has been great especially on social media.   Onto the acts..   STORMZY   If you think the current wave of musicians, Stormzy is definitely at the top. More recently he won British Male Solo Artist, British Album of The Year and Artist of The Year at the BBC Music Awards. Not counting the countless hits he has had in the UK Top 40. Those including ‘Shut Up’, ‘Big For Your Boots’ and ‘Blinded By Your Grace’.   RAG ‘N’ BONE MAN   Rag ‘n’ Bone Man just like Stormzy is very current. I dare say he is the example of the quote “Don’t judge a book by its cover” - Standing at 6’6 he is quoted for having the voice of an angel and his debut single ‘Human’ is example of this. Human rose to No 2 on the UK Top 40 and since then he has been on quite the high.   TWO DOOR CINEMA CLUB   Indie band Two Door Cinema Club have been around the international scene for eleven years now but it is now when they are pretty much making the waves. After a lot of success in having their music on the popular FIFA franchise, they are really becoming quite acclaimed and it is that as well as their popularity that makes them quite a worthy addition.    <b>THE BOOMTOWN RATS</b>   Well if you think icons The Boomtown Rats are definitely up there. Fronted by the always charismatic activist Bob Geldof, they are still alive and kicking as well as performing all over. It is said that Mr Geldof has cancelled a speech he was due to make in order to come to Gibraltar. For those of you who may remember Bob last performed here back in 1986.   SISTER SLEDGE    Sister Sledge just like The Boomtown Rats are icons and more so in their genre. The sisters who will be returning to Gibraltar after performing here in 2015 will certainly go down well and I dare say they fall in the same category as Bananarama and other music legends that they have brought over in the past. Joni Sledge who performed here in 2015 sadly passed away last year and in her place will be her daughter performing alongside her aunts Debbie and Kim.   <b>SUZI QUATRO</b>   Detroit, Michigan native Suzi Quatro was a nice surprise to this year’s lineup and as a self professed fan of her music I am buzzing now as I was when it was announced at the press conference. Suzi I dare say is quite the pioneer.. She fronted an all female band WAY back The Pleasure Seekers and were signed by Mercury Records. Shortly after the band disbanded Suzi moved to England in 1971 and it is fair to say that is when her career took off. Having two #1’s on the UK Top 40; ‘Devil Gate Drive’ and ‘Can The Can’, Suzi is a stellar addition to this year’s MTV Gibraltar Calling.   LOCAL BANDS   JETSTREAM   The Jets are currently in the best time of their careers. Since winning the 2017 Gibraltar International Song Festival and even before that, they have been working very hard behind the scenes to export their material. I must say though.. The addition of Aaron Ignacio on guitars has really added a lot to the band and the band’s sound sounds terrific. The band are also touring around Europe and are celebrating their tenth anniversary this year and should have a full length album out by the end of the year.    ANGELWINGS   Signed to Pride & Joy Music the symphonic metal band are doing some wonders in their rehearsal room and they have a great form of marketing between them which is to intrigue their fans as to what is coming up next. Straight out of releasing their debut album ‘The Edge of Innocence’ in 2017 to a lot of worldwide success, they will be jetting off to Augsburg, Germany in April to perform at the Rock ‘n’ Loc Festival and before that, they will be performing at Rock on The Rock on Friday 6th April.Rock ‘n’ Loc Festival    DEAD CITY RADIO   Dead City Radio will bring a lot a grunge feel to the festival and it is with that alone I feel their fans will be pleasantly excited that they are among the local bands performing at the festival. The band fronted by James Culatto have released two EPs and continue to perform around the scene - For a fan of the genre like myself, Dead City Radio will definitely be up there as one of the most vibrant bands on the scene.   GLOW   For those of you who read my column daily, you should already know how much I respect and admire GLOW’s music. The fact they have been selected especially on the twentieth anniversary since their debut EP ‘Rain’ was released, it is a nice tribute to their original guitarist Michael Danino. Unfortunately their original vocalist Lawrence Imossi will not be performing alongside Corey and Mark BUT the band have recruited the iconic and legendary Giles Ramirez. Giles will definitely bring a lot to GLOW and his experience, humility and                                                charismatic personality makes him the right man for the job. The same can be said for their new guitarist Jamis Mifsud. Jamis breathes local music and has it in his DNA, his father Tony was a very accomplished guitarist locally and Jamis is without question on the same level as his father.    HOLLIE APRIL   Hollie Buhagiar aka Hollie April is without question one of Gibraltar’s most accomplished composers and her momentum right now is at an all time high. She has most recently composed a film score for Poles Apart which won a BAFTA for Best British Short Animation. On a side note Poles Apart will actually form part of this year’s Brightmed Film Festival in June. Hollie’s return is definitely one to look forward to and from someone like myself who has seen her perform for many years I can’t wait to see her work magic as she usually does.   REACTION   Speaking at the press conference the festival’s producer Richard Coram believes that those chosen for the classic stage is to reflect how much music changed and how much the songs played by those coming over have stood the test of time. He also went on to highlight how great of a coup Stormzy is for Gibraltar as he isn’t playing that many festivals this year. Aside from the festival Coram went on to mention that he would like to have an event similar to The 100 Club in November where local bands performed as part of London Music Week leading to the MTV European Music Awards. This year’s EMAs will be held in Bilbao. Before we got to the local bands, Coram highlighted the importance of the Gibraltar Live Music Society and Gibraltar Music Management. The two entities have been working closely with Neon Angel since last year and mentioned GMM will be the local artist liaisons.    For his part Minister for Culture Steven Linares mentioned that having local bands as part of the lineup is all down to the fact that they want to export Gibraltar Music. Through this exposure as he mentioned local band Frontiers who performed at The 100 Club gig were awarded a contract to perform in Ireland.   23-03-18 PANORAMAdailyGIBRALTAR The first eleven acts for MTV Gibraltar Calling were announced by Minister for Culture Steven Linares and the event’s producer Richard Coram at a press conference Thursday morning and the buzz and hype for the festival’s first announcements has been great especially on social media.Onto the acts..STORMZYIf you think the current wave of musicians, Stormzy is definitely at the top. More recently he won British Male Solo Artist, British Album of The Year and Artist of The Year at the BBC Music Awards. Not counting the countless hits he has had in the UK Top 40. Those including ‘Shut Up’, ‘Big For Your Boots’ and ‘Blinded By Your Grace’.RAG ‘N’ BONE MANRag ‘n’ Bone Man just like Stormzy is very current. I dare say he is the example of the quote “Don’t judge a book by its cover” - Standing at 6’6 he is quoted for having the voice of an angel and his debut single ‘Human’ is example of this. Human rose to No 2 on the UK Top 40 and since then he has been on quite the high.TWO DOOR CINEMA CLUBIndie band Two Door Cinema Club have been around the international scene for eleven years now but it is now when they are pretty much making the waves. After a lot of success in having their music on the popular FIFA franchise, they are really becoming quite acclaimed and it is that as well as their popularity that makes them quite a worthy addition. THE BOOMTOWN RATSWell if you think icons The Boomtown Rats are definitely up there. Fronted by the always charismatic activist Bob Geldof, they are still alive and kicking as well as performing all over. It is said that Mr Geldof has cancelled a speech he was due to make in order to come to Gibraltar. For those of you who may remember Bob last performed here back in 1986.SISTER SLEDGE Sister Sledge just like The Boomtown Rats are icons and more so in their genre. The sisters who will be returning to Gibraltar after performing here in 2015 will certainly go down well and I dare say they fall in the same category as Bananarama and other music legends that they have brought over in the past. Joni Sledge who performed here in 2015 sadly passed away last year and in her place will be her daughter performing alongside her aunts Debbie and Kim.SUZI QUATRODetroit, Michigan native Suzi Quatro was a nice surprise to this year’s lineup and as a self professed fan of her music I am buzzing now as I was when it was announced at the press conference. Suzi I dare say is quite the pioneer.. She fronted an all female band WAY back The Pleasure Seekers and were signed by Mercury Records. Shortly after the band disbanded Suzi moved to England in 1971 and it is fair to say that is when her career took off. Having two #1’s on the UK Top 40; ‘Devil Gate Drive’ and ‘Can The Can’, Suzi is a stellar addition to this year’s MTV Gibraltar Calling.LOCAL BANDSJETSTREAMThe Jets are currently in the best time of their careers. Since winning the 2017 Gibraltar International Song Festival and even before that, they have been working very hard behind the scenes to export their material. I must say though.. The addition of Aaron Ignacio on guitars has really added a lot to the band and the band’s sound sounds terrific. The band are also touring around Europe and are celebrating their tenth anniversary this year and should have a full length album out by the end of the year. ANGELWINGSSigned to Pride & Joy Music the symphonic metal band are doing some wonders in their rehearsal room and they have a great form of marketing between them which is to intrigue their fans as to what is coming up next. Straight out of releasing their debut album ‘The Edge of Innocence’ in 2017 to a lot of worldwide success, they will be jetting off to Augsburg, Germany in April to perform at the Rock ‘n’ Loc Festival and before that, they will be performing at Rock on The Rock on Friday 6th April.Rock ‘n’ Loc Festival DEAD CITY RADIODead City Radio will bring a lot a grunge feel to the festival and it is with that alone I feel their fans will be pleasantly excited that they are among the local bands performing at the festival. The band fronted by James Culatto have released two EPs and continue to perform around the scene - For a fan of the genre like myself, Dead City Radio will definitely be up there as one of the most vibrant bands on the scene.GLOWFor those of you who read my column daily, you should already know how much I respect and admire GLOW’s music. The fact they have been selected especially on the twentieth anniversary since their debut EP ‘Rain’ was released, it is a nice tribute to their original guitarist Michael Danino. Unfortunately their original vocalist Lawrence Imossi will not be performing alongside Corey and Mark BUT the band have recruited the iconic and legendary Giles Ramirez. Giles will definitely bring a lot to GLOW and his experience, humility and                                                charismatic personality makes him the right man for the job. The same can be said for their new guitarist Jamis Mifsud. Jamis breathes local music and has it in his DNA, his father Tony was a very accomplished guitarist locally and Jamis is without question on the same level as his father. HOLLIE APRILHollie Buhagiar aka Hollie April is without question one of Gibraltar’s most accomplished composers and her momentum right now is at an all time high. She has most recently composed a film score for Poles Apart which won a BAFTA for Best British Short Animation. On a side note Poles Apart will actually form part of this year’s Brightmed Film Festival in June. Hollie’s return is definitely one to look forward to and from someone like myself who has seen her perform for many years I can’t wait to see her work magic as she usually does.REACTIONSpeaking at the press conference the festival’s producer Richard Coram believes that those chosen for the classic stage is to reflect how much music changed and how much the songs played by those coming over have stood the test of time. He also went on to highlight how great of a coup Stormzy is for Gibraltar as he isn’t playing that many festivals this year. Aside from the festival Coram went on to mention that he would like to have an event similar to The 100 Club in November where local bands performed as part of London Music Week leading to the MTV European Music Awards. This year’s EMAs will be held in Bilbao. Before we got to the local bands, Coram highlighted the importance of the Gibraltar Live Music Society and Gibraltar Music Management. The two entities have been working closely with Neon Angel since last year and mentioned GMM will be the local artist liaisons. For his part Minister for Culture Steven Linares mentioned that having local bands as part of the lineup is all down to the fact that they want to export Gibraltar Music. Through this exposure as he mentioned local band Frontiers who performed at The 100 Club gig were awarded a contract to perform in Ireland.