The 'bar' gravitational wave observatory: results, status and prospects

A review is given of the results of the coincidence searches recently perfo rmed under the International Gravitational Events Collaboration (IGEC) with the five cryogenic 'bar' detectors in operation. The capabilities of such a gravitational wave 'observatory' are discussed, in view of both the perfo rmance of current bars and the performance expected after completion of the upgrades currently underway. A longer term outlook is given for 'advanced' cryogenic acoustic detectors, with larger cross section and bandwidth.