AA.VV.
Tora Tora Festival '03 - Milano 20/09/2003

Third edition of the traveling festival organized by Manuel Agnelli of Afterhours together with his record label Mescal, aiming to give visibility to an Italian music scene that may not be entirely alternative, but certainly worthy of greater exposure in national media. This is the last day and the lineup is extremely rich, so the concerts are inevitably brief, never beyond five pieces, leaving a bit of an incomplete feeling, but after all, a declared goal of the event is to allow for the most performances, as indicated by the different lineup at each date.

Upon my arrival, One Dimensional Man, Yuppie Flu, and Marco Parente have already performed, and Agnelli has already made an appearance on the piano during the set of the latter along with Cristina Donà. The first I manage to listen to are Linea 77, singing both in English and Italian, and offering a powerful hardcore akin to overseas productions. They are followed by Perturbazione, who alternate ballads with indie pop numbers in the style of the Housemartins, with minimal and often ironic lyrics, confirming the good word about them: Agosto is a beautiful song even live. Cristina Donà starts somewhat feebly with Il mio giardino, but quickly picks up with Truman Show, Thriathlon, and Invisibile, revealing the most interesting set: we want more, but again, it will have to be another occasion. After MCR, with the classic jump-around songs, always fun, even if it's not my genre. Morgan from Bluvertigo, suddenly in a jokey mood, presents a downright circus-like stage, where Megahertz stands out, a man in Kraftwerk (or Interpol?) style, handling vintage keyboards and moog: the singles are enjoyable, notable the piano improvisation on the tail of Altrove, a bit confused the other songs.

It's then the turn of PGR: they sing Cupe Vampe, Unità di Produzione. The two voices of Ferretti and Ginevra Di Marco create a magnetic, magically gloomy atmosphere, but by the third song, I have a feeling of suffocation and have to escape outside to recover with the grilling scents of the adjacent festa dell’Unità: there's not much to do, io la morte me la immagino con la faccia di Giovanni Lindo Ferretti.

I return at the end of Marlene Kuntz and thus miss yet another chance to learn to appreciate them. Finally, it's time for Afterhours who perform their classics: Milano Circonvallazione Esterna, 1996, Male di Miele, Non è per sempre. We're at the duet on Quello che non c'è, and as indicated on the poster with a quirky featuring, we arrive at the - glaringly failed - attempt to introduce Elisa to the Italian indie rockers. An awkward sketch of the melody suggests she didn't even make the effort to listen to the song once on the car radio while coming to the concert, but Agnelli covers it all with kisses and hugs and, in an act of mercy, hands her the maracas just to find her a less awkward role. Better the presence of Federico Zampaglione from Tiromancino, who provides excellent guitar support at the end of the song and is rewarded with a splendid collective performance of Per me è importante, although his voice lends itself to more intimate atmospheres and doesn't hold up against Agnelli's powerful one.

Then come the make-up exams for Elisa, who tries to make up with a voice and piano performance of her Lullaby and A little over zero: what to say, as much as it's absolutely out of context, la ragazza è brava, ma può impegnarsi di più. It ends with Dentro Marilyn, with a Cristina Donà who instead elevates an already splendid song and on stage forms a truly harmonious duo with Agnelli.

Finale with the full bands on stage, everyone thanking Agnelli, who does not deny himself a deserved self-celebration moment, without pretending a modesty that does not belong to him. I return home loaded with CDs (great idea the stand with the catalog CDs at a reduced price) and with the desire to hear today's groups engage in longer times: the festival hit its target.