•
Rating: I'll admit that, very simply, I attended this festival for the Verdena... But in the end, I fell madly in love with Pino Scotto and the Fire Trails, also amazed by the niceness and affection of the metalheads... they have a soul too, well hidden under the leather jacket.
The festival, titled "Southern Rock," took place in Catanzaro Lido, in a horrible place called "Arena Magna Grecia," which seems anything but an arena... let's say that last year, at the De Gregori concert, I couldn't notice the squalor, as the crowd was overflowing. But on August 6, for the Malfunk, Fire Trails and, last but not least, Verdena, there was a meager representation of 14-year-olds, all partly dressed as metalheads or punks, and then thirty-forty-year-olds of metal descent, heavily made up... Despair: the kids, during the wait, start playing with beer and cigarettes, while the Fire Trails do the sound check. Pino Scotto, ipse dixit, is a lion wounded by ‘this shitty society’. .and at the bad word, the fury of the ‘small’ crowd... After a few howls, here come the Malfunk to try, with that Marco Cocci who in his own way, has understood the situation and seems to be poking fun at everyone.... He also hints at a few bad words for the joy of the youngsters and then goes out.
Starting the festival was an emerging group from Catanzaro, the Arhida. One of those rock, let's say, groups that make you wonder why they decided to dedicate their lives to music. During their performance, they had an exchange of banter with the local kids, Catanzaro residents, who seem to know them... Following them are the Malfunk. Marco Cocci is obnoxious but talented, skilled but not very refined. He starts with the splendid phrase: “While waiting for the Verdena performance, you can also enjoy us..."...intelligentibus pauca.
Then the mythical and inimitable Pino Scotto, with the Fire Trails, follows. Pino, my one and only, launches into an incredible show. In that hour of music, I absorbed many things. Above all, I noticed the contrast between a character like him, loyal to rock ‘n roll for forty years, and the kids below, who probably soon, will abandon this culture to fall back into the hypocrisy of everyday life. I'm not saying that rock ‘n roll is the most honorable life choice. It leads nowhere. It has no substance. I think it's a dream. But I am 21 years old, and I realize that those kids there cannot understand this. For them, it is just real, concrete life, made of symbols as futile as they are outdated, of cigarettes and some curse words that are so cool. Pino Scotto talks to us about music, mafia, the non-future of metal in Italy, the degeneration of customs, with an obvious attack on Flavio Briatore, a guest, in the beautiful Soverato, of Miss Gregoraci's family, ‘that good girl’... Maybe he wants to open a ‘Billionaire’ in Calabria, he says. And the crowd shrieks with whistles. Among the tracks, a cover of Vanadium... a band with which, he himself says, in the '80s, he lived a dream. He concludes by announcing the Verdena, "A great band. A band of kids, who have grown up...” And by inviting the Calabrian public, a secular victim of the mafia, to rebel against the situation, to try to change things, he triumphantly exits and, mercifully, stops to talk to his loyal followers behind the stage, to take photos and sign autographs. It's around 11 PM. The technicians prepare the very complex Verdena equipment.
A quarter of an hour of agony and TRL-like scenario, as they start shouting: Verdena! Verdena!... Luca! Alberto! Roberta!... they were just missing the good babysitter Cattelan. Finally, they arrive. A stunning, impeccable performance. The mixer was a bit shabby, but I didn't notice it. An avalanche of songs, without interruption, an instrumental interlude by Luca, and some incomprehensible phrase by Alberto of which I only understood "Ratzinger is satan"... yet another banality to inflame the crowd. But Alberto knows this well. Among other songs, also "Il Gulliver", 12 minutes of masterpiece... perfect as well. The unreleased "Non è" and "Stenuo", and then the classics: "Ovunque", "Ultranoia", sung so much it completely covered Alberto's voice. Then again, songs from the new album, "Requiem": "Angie", "Il caos strisciante", "Don Calisto" to suddenly finish with "Was?", a semi-instrumental and annoying track... they seem to almost enjoy themselves with the distortions... but the song ends. Roberta thanks, and waves goodbye. The Verdena leave. And do not return.
The kids focus on the essentials. They want the memorabilia. The concert setlist sheet, a t-shirt, maybe even Alberto's discarded cigarette butt. Relics symbolizing real, concrete life...and that’s so cool... But kids grow up, and the relics also vanish, corrupted by the passage of time.
Loading comments slowly
