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Rating: Summer has arrived, and it's time for open-air concerts. As always, Villa Ada answers the call and has organized a series of live events at reasonable prices, which convinces me to pack my bags and leave from Latina in the hope of returning satisfied.
Tonight, the price for two concerts is 13 euros, and besides leaving exhausted from dancing, jumping, and moshing that I engaged in, I am very, very satisfied with the evening's outcome. In a beautiful place like Villa Ada, with a slight fresh breeze and the small lake next to the stage, actress and rocker Juliette Lewis appears on stage with her The Licks quite punctually, as people are still arriving.
She is a black-clad panther, with tight-fitting leather pants showcasing a great physique, angry and gritty in pure rock'n'roll style. The sound is very good and full-bodied, with two beautifully distorted Les Pauls accompanying an excellent drummer relentlessly hitting the skins, with fills reminiscent of old Bonzo. The music is not original; it's rock'n'roll bordering on punk à la Stooges, with an aggressive voice and unison choruses that tend to intensify the sonic impact.
They present their tracks plus a couple of covers, with a surprise "Hot Stuff" by Donna Summer, which keeps only the dance rhythm of the drums and the riff redone by the guitar; everything else has a decidedly more powerful impact. The audience has fun and applauds, some jump in front: several songs could lead to moshing, but it's clear many in attendance are saving their energy for the next band. After three-quarters of an hour, they bid us farewell, leaving a good impression: technically solid, good sound, and Juliette is an authentic stage animal. A pity about the lack of originality.
After a pause for the stage change, the atmosphere radically changes: we suddenly enter a genuine party where everyone is involved. Gogol Bordello has arrived!
Eugene Huntz steps on stage in brightly colored gypsy clothes, holding the classic guitar in true gypsy style... just like the rest of the band, especially the violinist with his long white beard, just looking at them gives a perfect idea of what they want to represent. "Gipsy punk"!
This is their definition of the hybrid of folk, punk, ska, and taranta, perfectly achieved in the 2005 album "Gypsy Punks Underdog World Strike", from which they draw most of tonight's repertoire. So after a warming-up track, we immediately dive into the whirlwind of dance mixed with moshing with "Sally", continuing with the known and singable "Immigrant Punk", the destructive "60 Revolution" with its furious punk finale, the folkish "Not a Crime"... to go on for over an hour before the pause that allows the audience to catch their breath.
The acoustics are good, the set design sparse, with an enormous yellow banner that reads Gogol Bordello and nothing more, except for some light effects. They focus everything on music and engaging the public, thanks to a highly energetic Eugene who immediately takes his shirt off and rushes from right to left on the stage.We all wonder if they will perform "Santa Marinella", a song full of phrases in Italian, including curses and blasphemies, in memory of the singer's stay in the Roman jail for a judicial error... well, after about ten songs, you hear the singer's voice in imperfect Italian: "This is a story, public and amoral... and paranormal!"
They do it.
With the due consequences; those who know it have fun, those who don't are stunned by the chorus when he launches a series of curses in Italian that I won't rewrite here (I sang them too!). Then suddenly, a fire-eater appears in the middle of the people who, after lighting the torch, starts breathing fire, much to the general astonishment and the cell phones capturing the images.
It's a circus show in all respects: two Asian girls appear on stage as well, one with a large drum, and another with cymbals, accompanying this group of curious wanderers who know well how to entertain; the show continues for about two hours, pause included, they let us listen to two tracks from the upcoming album "SuperTaranta" and ends with a track from "Gypsy Punks..." lasting a quarter of an hour, becoming an unstoppable taranta that excites the audience and the singer himself, who steals the drum from the girl to throw it among the people, places it horizontally, climbs on it, and continues to sing, his staggering with the drum supported by the audience resembles that of a castaway trying to stay upright on a tiny raft.
Then he climbs back up, takes two microphones, slams one to the ground, climbs onto the speakers, sincerely thanks the audience, and lets us understand that he had just as much fun as we did, as did the rest of the band. There are many other details to write, but it would take too long.
Tonight the audience was divided into two: the rockers and metal heads on one side, who came to see Juliette, faithful to the schemes imposed by rock; all those who love folk, punk, hybrids, dance, and have fun on the other. Even though I'm a devotee of rock, tonight I sided with the other, preferring to dance, jump, and mosh thanks to a band that knows how to mix music and joy, energy, and different styles.
They managed to create Gogol Bordello.
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