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If something must be done, it must be done and I do it.
Like, putting the Taun back on its feet.
Which is a little venue in Fidenza that the locals say is the CBGB’s of those parts.
Maybe it's not quite like that, 'cause the Ramones, Dead Boys, and Heartbreakers never passed through the Taun, but many other lovely people in the mood for rock'n'roll have, so that place has made a name and reason for itself.
So, when in 2013 it literally falls apart, the Taun closes its doors, because while it may be romantic to bite the dust between headbanging, moshing, and stage diving, I’ll avoid it if I can; and more than a few lament, that yes, the Taun is just like CBGB’s, so if CBGB’s disappeared from circulation and never came back, imagine if the Taun will return.
That's exactly when someone else remembers this notion that if something must be done, it must be done and I do it, and so "Keep the Taun Up" is born, which is nothing more than an attempt to gather the necessary pennies to reopen the little CBGB’s.
And the wonderful, truly wonderful thing, which shows what the Taun is without me having to say too much, is that the most substantial contributions, besides those from a few thousand rockers scattered around, come from competitors in those parts; it's a bit like a marathon when the last kilometer is contested by two head-to-head, one falls and the other - instead of heading straight for the finish line, giving a cheeky gesture of the umbrella to the poor guy - stops and helps the unfortunate one up, and then they both start running again and may the best one win.
It takes time to get the Taun back in shape, so the reopening is in March 2016, just in time to organize, together with friends from BAM!Magazine and BAM!Radio, the fifth edition of BAM!Fest, an almost unavoidable meeting point for every lover of dirty and heavy rock'n'roll on a wide scale, so much so to include everything from garage to punk to hardcore.
It is said that in those days of May at the Taun there are as many people as never seen before, and in the end, it is almost obvious to announce that we'll see each other in 2017.
Because the Taun is back.
Because the Taun is even better than CBGB’s.
So to speak.
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If something must be done, it must be done and I do it.
So on Friday, come what may, I finish work in the early afternoon, and if the boss dares to say something, it's the right time to tell him to go to he###ll; it might be that I'm on edge, he senses the bad vibes so he doesn't dare to breathe a word.
And I'm out; I jump into the Cortina and speed towards Foligno, a charming little town in the heart of the green Umbrian countryside, and let's pour on, with all the clichés.
And since tradition says Foligno is the center of the world, then consequently all roads lead to Foligno; where tonight the Gentlemens play, who in 2016 released an album called "Hobo Fi" and it's a great listen, and I missed the Roman gig, but I won't miss the one in Foligno.
Then maybe, combining business with pleasure, there's some leftover Easter cheese pie and I stock up.
Oh dear, going back to the point, "speeding" towards Foligno is not exactly appropriate for the task and I arrive there after three hours; yet those three hours gave me the way and time to mull over the old question of the thing that, if it must be done, it must be done and I do it.
It's that soon at the Taun the three-day BAM!Fest 2017 starts and tomorrow Deniz Tek plays.
To be or not to be? That's the question.
Question, so to speak, I know very well that the imperative is to be there, and even if I'm not of the age to endure a thousand kilometers and two concerts in two days, maybe I'll arrive at the Taun in tatters but I'll still get there.
Because Deniz is Deniz.
That is, if thirty years ago I picked up a guitar it was because of Joe Strummer, Johnny Ramone, Dennis Danell, and Deniz Tek; Deniz is the only one still alive and if he comes within reach, I’ll have him in my sight and shoot; two years ago it was with the Birdmen, this time not, but only those who don't know Deniz could complain.
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If something must be done, it must be done and I do it.
This story of the thing that, if it must be done, it must be done and I do it, must be known even by Deniz Tek.
I allow myself a brief and quick digression just to say that years ago I read a wonderful article about the Birdmen's descent upon the Festival Beat in Salsomaggiore and I still keep it, because there are four beautiful lines by Luca Frazzi on Pip Hoyle, which I cannot avoid quoting "...for the record, the Birdman keyboardist today is the manager of one of the largest Australian hospitals. And the question that arises at this point is spontaneous: who makes him cover thousands of kilometers in a van, 40 years after their debut, for fees far from his professional league, keeping impossible hours on stages around the world?"
And maybe it's not so much a digression, for me, this is exactly the story of the thing that, if it must be done, it must be done and I do it; then, call it rock'n'roll or attitude or in any other way, but it's always that story there.
Deniz knows this story all too well, after all, the Birdmen are more his thing than anyone else's; even more than Rob Younger, that Rob who, every time he's asked which experience could be equal to the Radio Birdman’s saga, doesn’t even think for a second and shoots out the name of Deniz's Visitors, neglecting without any scruples the "his" New Christs.
Now Deniz steps onto the stage of the Taun almost at eleven; before him, others have taken care to heat up the atmosphere, a very special mention for the Bologna-based Chow, with hopes to hear more about them soon.
On bass and drums, he is accompanied by two figures who call themselves the Goody Twins, never heard before, but they demonstrate knowing their stuff; otherwise, they wouldn't be alongside the founder, guitarist, and author of a large part of that rock’n’roll machine that is Radio Birdman.
Not that it was needed, but to incite even more is the presence of Keith Streng, guitarist of the Fleshtones, chosen by Deniz to accompany him on this long concert tour; Keith gets on stage wearing a black t-shirt, and when he turns his back to you, the red-flaming Birdmen logo is printed on the back of that t-shirt and from that moment you know there’s no escape.
Then Deniz could live off his laurels and give you only what you expect, the Birdmen's repertoire, but it never goes that way; only a few Birdmen tracks, first before any other, that marvel of "Breaks My Heart" that maintains its devastating power-pop-punk anthem charge as if forty years had passed like nothing, unfazed; or "Love Kills," reworked into a blues that never stops bleeding and not even the thought crosses your mind that, damn him, he could have played it more faithfully to the original.
Most importantly, tonight there is a lot from Deniz's extra-Birdmen repertoire, with an eye on the new "Mean Old Twister," released only a few months ago, but with some tracks that will soon end up among the classics - at least on "Prison Mouse" I'd bet anything - and always reinforcing more the cult of one of the greatest exponents of the Detroit sound.
Until Deniz resurrects "Hand of Law", and with a terrifying drive stretches it to ten minutes, stuffing it with more tributes than a cheese Easter cake, from the Birdmen, naturally, to Detroit-rock-city, equally naturally, to surf, as if it were "Aloha Steve and Danno," from garage to punk to a whole philosophy of life and rock’n’roll which I think is precisely that story that if something must be done, it must be done and I do it.
And at that point, at least for me, not giving in to the lump that bites the throat is a hard endeavor.
Extraordinary Deniz Tek.
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