AA.VV.
Heineken Jammin' Festival - Imola, 19/06/ 2004

Small premise: never before have I felt like such an ordinary "man on the street" when reviewing artists I don't know very well and whom I saw at the Heineken Jamming Festival. So, you fans of the bands in question, keep this in mind before tearing me apart if I say something inaccurate or not to your liking...

I arrive in Imola and immediately the first anecdote: after passing the first barrier to access the concert area, while crossing the bridge over the Santerno, I start hearing colorful exclamations extolling the greatness of the Lord: due to the wind (in any case, a precious ally against the heat) a friend of mine let his ticket slip from his hands, and it began to sail far and wide, first in the air, then in the water of the river.

I was already relishing the idea of teasing him for eternity when, in the end, not only did he manage to get in, but he also skipped the queue that the rest of us endured under the sun!

And more or less the day followed this same pattern: expectation, hope, half disappointment.

But let's go in order:

DELTA V: not available, I arrived later.

CALLING: not available, I had just arrived, but I preferred to take a walk rather than watch them.

STARSAILOR: not bad. There were 3 of them, and friends told me that the line-up is 4-5 members: some songs went well (for example "Four To The Floor"), others less so ("Good Souls", much slower, it took me a bit to recognize it). They did a medley with a song by U2, and at that point, many woke up saying "but these are U2!".
The question is: how many bands of this type are there??? maybe too many...
rating: 3/5

PJ HARVEY: petite, a bundle of nerves wrapped in a mini yellow dress, contrasting with her pallor and a pair of fuchsia stilettos whose sight is not recommended for epileptics. Gritty but also sweet when she greets and thanks the audience; I didn't know her well, she didn't do much to change my mind: some catchy songs, many in an angry female punk-rock style.
rating 3/5

PIXIES: for me, the best! Many people recognized the songs from the first notes and sang them from start to finish: honestly, I didn't expect it!
Despite their age, they ooze energy from every pore, and the songs, heard live, definitely gain points: they really seem like stage animals!
Nearby, the pogo broke out several times, featuring Shrek, a huge American "redhead" with a green Oregon State University cap who chewed tobacco and kept it in his lower lip: he swayed, but his size made his movements very violent for those around him!
rating 5/5

BEN HARPER: the thing that struck me most was the rapport with the band: truly exceptional! It was a nice concert, even though I still can't stand Ben Harper's tendency to be a sort of "preacher singer". The glaring example is "With my own two hands", a song to me as banal as can be, with a simplistic and repetitive lyrics: on CD it lasts 4 and a half minutes, live it lasted 11 (ELEVEN!) minutes, with a repetition of the title tending towards infinity...anyway, it wasn't bad, rather, evidently it's me who doesn't understand him!
(Note of merit for the bassist, *huge* and amazing, and the Jamaican percussionist with a constant smile.)
rating 4/5

THE CURE: the judgment is strongly influenced by fatigue: by that hour, my feet resembled two Cordon Bleu, and I was exhausted. It seemed like a very gloomy concert (and my feeling has been confirmed here on the forum by certainly more reliable people) but equally enjoyable: many (too many?) new songs that probably appealed to the "hardcore" fans on the first listen, but a bit less for those, like me, who hoped to hear a few more classics.
Inimitable the "tribe of Robert Smith", made of people dressed in black (!), heavily made-up (even guys..), with woolen leg warmers (!), feathers in their hair (!!), garters and torn white stockings (!!!), in short, a show within the show.
Reprehensible was the guy suffering from "intestinal virus" (see geometry Calboni of Fantozzian memory) who literally infested the entire area near where I was!
rating 3/5

Other scattered comments:

The Heineken was an excellent opportunity to meet some debaseriots: the call from G on Friday night allowed me to get in touch with Rivo, who watched the concert from an enviable position next to the mixer in the press area. Josi_ (the exception that confirms the rule that Sicilians are of medium-short stature) won his battle with traffic and managed to arrive in time for the Pixies. With Lukin (with girlfriend), I barely had time to introduce myself and exchange a few words; I know Mr_Iko was there but I couldn't find the "Piccolo Ristoro", Vaniglia (whom I already knew) would have devoured Ben Harper with her eyes, Pugliamix and Magomarcelo were somewhere, but I didn't meet them: pity, maybe next time!

And maybe next year I'll be more careful when they give me a piadina with sausage, checking that there's no Nutella, which, of course, happened to me before getting back in the car and plunging into traffic to return home!