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Rating: Auditorium Parco della musica - 01/06/07 Rome
Sgt. Pepper's turns 40 and we all gather at the Auditorium to celebrate its birthday. Many guests, distinguished personalities, ordinary people, and the inevitable stands with memorabilia of all kinds from that group, the Beatles, who for better or worse have made music history.
The main interest of the evening is for the musical event that takes place in the Santa Cecilia hall, where first the Doctor 3 in a jazz version, then Mauro Pagani accompanied by some big names, will perform the entire album "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band"!!!
The public responds well to the initiative, all tickets are sold out, the hall is beautiful and very large, it should be the largest in the Auditorium, built in a particular way specifically to enhance the acoustics of concerts, something that unfortunately is not done anywhere else in Italy.
Around 9 PM, it's time for the Doctor 3, aka Danilo Rea on piano, Enzo Pietropaoli on double bass, and Fabrizio Sferra on drums. They reinterpret the Beatles album in a jazz key, with the piano occasionally retracing the melodic line of the songs, and it's the only way to understand which songs they are, because the rest is often completely revolutionized, but with great mastery.
Needless to say, the technical preparation and execution are at excellent levels, they are very established musicians and they play a genre that necessarily requires great technique.
The arrangements are nonetheless very valid and engaging, so much so that the audience will remain engaged throughout the performance.
The highlight is reached when Pietropaoli remains alone on stage, and with the loop machine, an effect widely used in rock lately, but also live by artists like Alex Britti, records several double bass parts made of harmonics, hits on the body, and long notes, which prepare the ground for "Within you without you", played entirely with the bow creating a suspended atmosphere.
Pietropaoli himself speaking to the public says: "If you're interested, our CD is here for sale, it's a fundraiser for McCartney's wife who still has to receive several billion from old Paul!!!"
After the splendid "A Day in the Life", they are greeted by rightful applause from the audience.
Between pauses, a song by Jovanotti made especially for the occasion is presented with a video by Oliviero Toscani, the video is excellent... Jovanotti's lyrics, however, are forgettable.
After an appearance on stage by Carlo Verdone, it's the eagerly awaited moment: Mauro Pagani accompanied by a band, with behind the Santa Cecilia orchestra and several big names doing the relay from one song to another of Sgt. Pepper's.
The experiment is very ambitious and will succeed halfway.
It starts with "Sgt. Pepper's.." with Pagani on vocals and the Apple Pies providing backing vocals throughout the performance. Pagani is a great musician but perhaps his voice is his weak point, and the piece suffers a bit because of it.
Next, Raf follows for a decent "With a Little Help from My Friends", the Velvet for a rocking "Lucy in The Sky with Diamonds"; then it's the turn of Max Gazzè, Marina Rei who also plays the acoustic drums, and Paola Turci: together they deliver the best performance of the evening, singing "Getting Better", perfect harmonies and excellent arrangement.
The succession of big names continues but the quality starts to drop a bit, because some, like Renga or Nicky Nicolai, despite singing very well, are visibly unsure because they don't know the lyrics by heart; Renga will read it karaoke-style on a screen, Nicolai does worse, holding a sheet in hand while also missing the entry of a verse.
The unfortunate twist comes from Pagani himself who during "Good Morning Good Morning", forgets to start singing and, unable to play it cool, simulates a suicide and apologizes to an audience that knows every song by heart.
Eugenio Finardi and Manuel Agnelli were instead paired with songs that don't do justice to their voices, especially Agnelli deserved a piece more suited to his range like the same "Sgt. Pepper's.." and not a more delicate piece like "A Day in the Life".
Other positive notes still exist: kudos to Giampaolo Ascolese & Isoritmo, who stage an excellent "Within you without you", and also Alex Britti even if he exaggerates a bit with the solos, delivers an "Sgt. Pepper's.." acoustic version with a different guitar tuning (it seems like a drop D but I'm not sure).
A round of applause goes naturally to the Santa Cecilia orchestra and the band who supported the performance, clean and perfect.
The evaluations at the end of the evening are these: given the ticket price (5 €) it was definitely worth it; there is a disparity of opinions for the performances, because Doctor 3 deserve 5 stars without a doubt; Pagani's idea instead, considering the contents, could have turned out much better, beyond some inaccuracies, some guests gave me the impression of being there just to be seen, in fact, they didn't even know the lyrics of the songs... so I won't go beyond 3 stars...the average, therefore, is 4!
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