The May 21 charity golf tournament "Battle of the Bars'', featuring the rock band Hootie & The Blowfish, is being organised by the Bermuda Triangle Brewery Ltd.

Rock 'n' rollers Hootie & The Blowfish will play one concert in Bermuda next month as a warm-up to their European tour.

Great Sound Productions' Mr. Barry Fitzsimmons yesterday confirmed his company had booked the top-selling band for May 23 at BAA, the night before the Bermuda Day holiday, after six months of negotiations.

One of the world's hottest acts at the moment, Hootie's debut album "Cracked Rear View'' has gone triple-platinum and is currently number three on Billboard's top albums chart.

The singles "Hold My Hand'' and "Let Her Cry'' have been vigorously promoted by VH-1.

Mr. Fitzsimmons said the musicians were keen golfers and would be in Bermuda long enough to sam ple some of the Island's courses before the concert.

Opening for Hootie will be the local band The Kennel Boys, currently the house band at The Oasis, said Mr. Fitzsimmons.

When asked how his company managed to convince the band to play in Bermuda, Mr. Fitzsimmons said, "We got on the bandwagon early, last November.'' "They're preparing for their European tour and they viewed Bermuda as a good place to try out their material,'' he said.

The tickets will be available next week at $40 each, said Mr. Fitzsimmons.

"This is the first rock and roll type show that's been staged in years,'' he said. "It's tough to guess what type of reaction we'll get ... it doesn't get a whole lot bigger than this.'' Mr. Fitzsimmons said the band members were keen golfers and planned to sample the Island's links, including an "inter-pub'' tournament sponsored by The Robin Hood at the Belmont Hotel golf course.

He added if the band had a good time in Bermuda, golfing and playing their music, Great Sound might suggest making the concert an annual event.

Tickets for the concert go on sale Monday at Great Sound, the Robin Hood and Opus One. Mr. Fitzsimmons stressed tickets would only be sold in advance, and not at the door the night of the show.

Showtime is 9 p.m.

Mr. Fitzsimmons also confirmed Great Sound had booked top Barbadian soca band Spice & Co. for Soca '95, on August 2.

THE BAND -- Hootie & The Blowfish (from left): Mark Bryan, Darius Rucker, Dean Felber and Soni.

Mr. Barry Fitzsimmons