No festival is complete without live music and as in previous years we are preparing a high octane line-up of the best alternative local live acts on the islands. As a Grass roots festival Gaiafest has always believed in helping to launch and introduce upcoming, raw, promising young talent onto the national platform as well as promoting established high caliber artistes and traditional ethnic music.

The stage setting for our live music acts is unique; Gaia's water reservoir which when drained in summer, doubles up as a custom built amphitheatre. Last year the buzz was feel-good electric and the relaxed, happy hippy vibe translated into Xummiemu meets Woodstock. This year we promise to repeat the same but with an edgier line up, bordering on the fringes, just ready to explode and a festive clamor that is sure to reverberate across the bay.

Live music kicks off after 21:30

Bands playing at GAIAFEST

NV by Rebecca Sultana NV (Nikki Vukovic) is the recent addition to Maltese female vocalists on the island. Backed by a band made up of renowned and established musicians, featuring Sean Vukovic (songwriter and guitar), Jonathan Galea (bass), Michael Briguglio (drums), Andre Schembri (keyboards) an adrenalized live performance is guaranteed! She has released five singles so far, which have been getting considerable airplay on leading local radio stations. Although NV is relatively a newcomer in the field, music has always been one of her main interests. She used to play piano when she was younger and has now resumed her piano playing to help her develop her musical abilities further. It was when Sean asked her to sing to a melody he was working on, that her vocal ability was discovered. That melody turned out to be "Open Your Eyes". Sean confidently states that the melodies of the song and her voice "were made for one another". This song was literally an eye opener for Nikki and is particularly special to her! At present, Nikki is investing her energies on developing her singing technique and style. She is also working on more songs for her debut album and also aspires to write some of her own material in the future. www.nvmalta.com Renzo Spiteri Latin Jazz Quintet Multi-percussionist Renzo Spiteri is a versatile solo artiste and session musician who creates "a sheer mesmerising atmosphere whenever he performs" (EM, Sunday Times). Throughout the years he has been committed to using the universal language of music to bring different cultures together, and has performed with various international artistes including Trilok Gurtu (India), Joji Hirota (Japan), Mercan Dede (Turkey), N'faly Kouyaté (Rep. of Guinea), Yelemba D'Abidjan (Ivory Coast) and Dan Moore (U.S.A.). He continues to perform with his Latin Jazz Quintet, sharing the beautiful Latin rhythms with local audiences. The Quintet is a showcase of some of Malta's finest jazz musicians including Mario Abela (bass), Walter Vella (saxophone/flutes), Lino Cauchi (piano) and Joe Micallef (drums). From jazz to classical, from solo percussion performances to fusion, contemporary and world music, his performances and collaborations have been described in a review as "alluring and intriguing ... [giving] a very good idea of Renzo's mastering of the percussion and his ways and means to adapt to different styles" (Sunday Times of Malta, July 2006). Renzo and his music have been featured on MTV music channel and BBC radio stations. He has earned international endorsements from world leading companies Toca Percussion, Paiste Cymbals and Gibraltar Hardware, and is supported by Yamaha Drums and Olimpus Music (Malta). www.renzospiteri.com The Areola Treat The Areola Treat - are a four-piece fronted by Lisa, Chris on drums, Adrian on guitar and Matthew on bass. They started jamming in mid-2006 and soon found that a punchy, under-4-minute song structure suited their style. Playing together came easily as Chris had played with both Adrian and Matthew before, while Lisa had fantasized about playing with these guys all her life. Having said this, the members are determined not to let their previous incarnations influence the band too much - in Matthew's and Chris's case for complicated legal reasons, as they are still a part of Shostakovich's Nightmare; in Chris's and Adrian's case for deep emotional reasons, having once been members of Lumiere. As for influences - these are strictly frowned upon by Adrian who quite rightly insists on keeping to the point of the song and finds lengthy digressions about what the band should or shouldn't sound like tiresomely academic. If it sounds right they'll keep it; if not it's out. This band is not about spouting slogans or half-baked philosophies of life. This is art for art's sake; noise for noise's sake. So don't ask Lisa what she's singing about. Or do ask her… but take a deep breath before you do. Photo taken by: www.overview.com.mt Norm Rejection Widely recognised as Malta's first band to fuse different styles into a distinctive metal sound, Norm Rejection was founded in 1994. Norm Rejection is known for its songs of protest and rebellion. Norm Rejection released "Subtly Mesmerized?" EP during the same year before releasing its two full-length albums "Deconform" (1998) and "0002" (2000). All these releases were sold-out. In the meantime Norm Rejection songs were included in various international CD compilations, including: French magazine 'Hard Force', where "Caged" appeared alongside songs by Sepultura, Dimmu Borgir, Skinlab and others; "Helping you work to work Volume 6" by Lockjaw Records (UK), sponsored by Metal Hammer magazine, which included Norm Rejection's "The Death of the Subject" ; and "Justice for Mark Barnlsey", the international benefit CD for Mark Barnsley, which includes "Faceless", and other compilations. Norm Rejection has played live and headlined many concerts between 1994 and 2001, and also opened for Anathema. The band returned back on stage in a memorable concert on 9 March 2007 at Poxx Bar, Paceville (Malta). More live shows are planned for 2007. Norm Rejection's show at the Gaiafest promises to provide a heavy set including numbers such as 'Malta Not For Sale', 'Caged', '6479' and 'Faceless'. Norm Rejection's line up is Wil (Vocals), Sean Vukovic (Guitar), Joker (Bass) and Michael Briguglio (Drums). Check out Norm Rejection at www.normrejection.com and www.myspace.com/normrejection The Playground Project Playground is a playing field of sound, colours and movement…all interacting together to project inspiration for a better world. Mario Sammut and Claire Tonna are coordinating this project and sharing it around with musicians, dancers, decorators, painters and other people that were inspired by the music and by the believe that we can all outshine the world we live in and make it a better space for all. In thousands smiles Playground have started performing this spring and are joining the air of Gaiafest 2007 on Saturday 9th June…for this night Playground are attempting to colour skies, inspire hearts… become an installation for love peace and all light. Paul & Jes Paul Sultana and Jes Psaila make up this instrumental acoustic guitar duo performing tunes in the pop, latin jazz and blues genres. The guitars they play differ, reflecting their individual styles, with Jes picking a steel string dreadnought folk guitar whilst Paul preferring a nylon string classical guitar. This diversity blends into a style of music which is easy to listen to both in the slow moody tunes and the more up tempo grooves. Their repertoire is mostly made up of well known numbers in their respective style, yet these are thoughtfully selected by the guitarists ensuring that the music suits the duo setup. With this limitation, particular emphasis is made on the arrangements of the pieces, whilst keeping the music interesting and alive by including a strong element of improvisation in their playing. Happy Hour The band started in 1st January 2007. The first 2 members that started this band were Edward (guitar & backing vocals) & Jean (drummer). It was always a problem to find committed people but finally we made some auditions and we found Andrea (bass player) Aiden (pianist) & Dario (lead singer). We made some jamming sessions to find our style. After some couple of months in the garage we had an opportunity to play at Rookies and BJs. The band is now planning to enter the studio this summer to make couple of demos to promote on the local stations. Dario Mifsud Bonnici Hi my name is Dario Mifsud Bonnici I've been singing for these last 6yrs. As a singer I like to sing all type of songs from Classic to rock personally my favorite style of music is Soft Rock. During these 6yrs I've had a lot of experience in this type of work, took part in a lot of musicals and also been invited to various activities as a guest singer , these last 8 months I took part in the program L-ISFIDA on Net Tv I managed to arrive till the semi final. At the moment I'm working hard to achieve my goal in the coming years. 1 of my dreams is to participate in the eurovision song contest this is because this contest is one of the most shows viewed by Europe and you'll never know who's watching!! Well after that every singers dream having my videos on MTV Europe. Having this dream I know it involves a lot of hard work and studying in Singing but I'm to achieve this dream wish me luck!!! Charlene & Natasha The sisterly-duo CHARLENE & NATASHA hail from Marsascala, a small village in the southern part of Malta. They have been on the music scene for quite some time and have established themselves as a very popular acts both locally as well as on an international level. In 2006, Natasha and Charlene made it to the finals of the Go Mobile Malta Song for Europe 2006. The girls experimented with a change of style from their typical 'upbeaty-pop' sound and went for a fusion of Celtic with Gothic rock sound with 'Echoes of Gaia", a completely different style and completely new concept for the Malta Song for Europe festival! Written by Natasha Grima and Deo Grech, with music composed by Charlene Grima. The girls won the back-up jury vote who unanimously voted them at first place, scoring 60 points out of a maximum possible vote of 60 points! Natasha and Chjarlene, fittingly, will be opening Gaiafest 2007 with this song. Indigo Indigo's real name is Marvic Lewis. She was born on the 5th of July 1980 in Malta. She started her singing career at the age of eight, taking lessons and participating in competitions and shows. Till the age of twelve she was already requested as a session singer in recording studios, as a backing vocalist with a lot of established artists and bands in live concerts, and in musicals too. In the same year she started listening to Rock music and it immediately stole her heart. Two years later, at the age of fourteen, she started doing basic song writings, and four years later she finally met her rock band -So Chronic, with who she spent another four years, and produced 3 original soft rock\alternative tracks, that were released as singles on radio stations. Soon after the band finished cause of a missing drummer, and she aspired to continue as a solo artist in the same scene of rock, writing more songs, takin some guitar lessons, producing in a more elaborate and specific style, and finding a stage name "INDIGO". In November'03 Indigo released her first single on radio, by the name of 'Washed Away'', and a second one in July'04 by the name of Struck. They both turned out to be great hits, in fact she was nominated as a best solo artist in the Bay Music Awards'04.This paved the way for Indigo, and inspired her to continue writing and developing that same style, until she concluded a whole album under the name of' STRUCK''. All this took her about 50 days in studio, spread over 3years, and it got released on the 23rd of July'06,after releasing a 3rd Hit Single,' I don't care''. Another 2 were released after, and she got nominated for the same award, performing her best single so far, mentioned above. This is only the start, as she says:' these are the roots of Gothpsych''; the name she gave to the style she wants to get to in the next productions, for which she already wrote some songs. There's no end for experimentation and evolution in the world and mind of Indigo, and music is not her only love but also the visuals. Her dream is to embody these two in her next works.

Gianni & Friends