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Rating: Thursday evening... I hear that at Alpheus there's a live event organized by Jack Daniel’s where Smoke and Giuliano Palma & The BlueBeaters will perform, all with free entry!!! The opportunity seems enticing, being someone who occasionally enjoys playing GPalma & Co. CDs, I gather my crew and head to the venue.
Upon arrival, the turnout seems more than good, so much so that after half an hour they decide to close the gates due to full capacity, sparking the unjustified anger of some who were left outside.
Around 10 PM, it’s not the Smoke opening, but an emerging band from Umbria, whose name I unfortunately couldn't catch. Judging by their tracks, I'd say theirs is decent alternative rock, technically skilled with some vocal hints reminiscent of Manuel Agnelli from Afterhours. They play for about half an hour, and amid some applause, leave the stage to the Smoke.
They manage to warm up the evening by offering an approach not far from that of Giuliano Palma & Co., pure reggae with a few dub twists, people really start moving and dancing. The downside of these bands, as we know, is that they often get trapped in their standards and risk becoming boring over time.
But the Smoke finish before that happens, leaving the crowd in happy anticipation for the band to come.
Here unfortunately the evening, instead of taking off, plummets...
The heat increases... and so does the wait... and too much... midnight arrives and there’s no sign of the band, just people doing soundchecks on stage... The annoyed crowd chants "C'avete rotto er c. . . . ", considering that many have to work the next day. Some start leaving the hall. After half an hour, at 12:30 AM, Giuliano Palma & The Bluebeaters take the stage.
Despite the wait, they start well with an instrumental piece and the successful cover of "Wonderful Life", which ignites the audience in a warm chorus, myself included. Then... the unexpected downfall... the band chooses a too flat setlist, with songs that follow one another but often have the same tempo, and even the same key. For at least half an hour, it feels like listening to the same track repeatedly, and I suddenly hope to hear "Jump", "Che cosa c'è", "Messico e Nuvole", "Believe"... but none of this happens.
I stop dancing, as do my friends, fans of the band who are so bored they ask me to leave... even though the concert isn’t over, I agree. It’s a quarter past one, and they’re still playing, I leave the hall drawing my conclusions: it could have been a really nice evening, but it was dragged on too long, the headliner band took the stage too late, and the sequence of songs played wasn't to my liking.
What a pity, because they’re technically skilled, Giuliano Palma sings well and moves on stage, but all this didn’t keep me from getting bored.
I leave... with a Jack Daniel’s gadget and poster... hoping to see them again in another context... perhaps more lively.
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