Audioslave
Live at Flippaut Festival, Bologna 02/06/05

LA RECENSIONE

Slipknot and then Prodigy, meaning about three hours of pogo, dance, and tons of inhaled dust (Flippaut folks, please find a remedy). The exhausted crowd moves away from the stage to refill on beer and smoke, but I go against the tide, when Chris and the band come on, I need to be at their feet.

Here they are, Chris in a white tank top, Tom with the inevitable hat and the instrument in a less underarm position than I remembered. “Your time has come” opens a setlist that is a concentrate of power, a real earthquake caused by Tim and Brad and sublimated by Morello's solos and Cornell's vocal range, and speaking of his voice, I must mention a goosebump-inducing “Shadow on the sun” with a well-deserved final ovation.
For weeks it was known that there would be much-welcomed surprises for Soundgarden and RATM fans, and indeed the legendary “Spoonman” soon arrives, while the intense RATM tracks, announced by Chris in a very cryptic English (Corey from Slipknot enunciated better when speaking to the audience), literally make the crowd explode. There's no point in asking which Rage track rocked the most, I change my mind every time, but what will stay with me are the thousands of clenched fists (at Tom's invitation) during the first notes of “Killing in the name”, the devastating force of “Sleep now in the fire”, “Bulls on parade” and the interactive rapping between Chris and the people, as if wanting to pay tribute to the greatness of these pieces.
The only "lighter" song is a gem that actually wasn't born as a calm piece: Cornell alone on stage with an acoustic guitar gives us “Black hole sun”.
But there's no more room for calm, the riff of “Cochise” indeed regenerates complete mayhem and ends a great evening.