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Rating: June 17, 2017: after a wait of about 2 months since I started organizing the trip, the day has arrived for what I call ''the concert of a lifetime''!
A number ranging from 80,000 to 90,000 people come from everywhere to witness the hottest day of the entire festival, considering the rich lineup offered! 3 of the greatest bands from the last decade on the same stage!
It promises to be a memorable day!
And so, having bypassed the entrance checks after at least half an hour of walking, I arrive with my friends at the Parco dell'Autodromo Nazionale di Monza to secure a decent spot in the pit (Fourth row before the barricade on the left side of the stage, not bad), ready to battle impatience, heat, and thirst. I will refrain from discussing the much-debated event organization in this review, so I will only describe the performances of the day's artists, leaving everything to the music!
1:55 PM: Warming up the audience is the DJ set of ''Lineoleum'' with a wide selection of rock tracks from the past 25 years, including ''Killing In The Name'' by Rage Against The Machine, ''Best Of You'' by Foo Fighters, ''All Star'' by Smash Mouth, ''Ocean Avenue'' by Yellowcard, ''American Idiot'' by Green Day, ''Last Resort'' by Papa Roach, and some classics like ''Come Together'' by The Beatles. Closing this warm-up phase is ''Welcome To The Black Parade'' by My Chemical Romance, with the audience shouting the chorus at the top of their lungs. All in all, an hour and a half enjoyable with adrenaline, but given the state of the audience in front of the stage, it results in exhaustion ahead of time.
3:25 PM: It's time for our local heroes, Sick Tamburo, founded by Gian Maria Accusani and Elisabetta Imelio from the now-defunct Prozac+, the heroes of the day, I daresay, considering their bravery to play with balaclavas on their faces in about 40° heat and a blazing sun. I cannot provide a critical judgment as I had never heard them before, but I'll just say they gave me a few laughs, particularly with their track titled ''Dimentica'':
''Get your hands off my chest
and put them on your mother
Get your lips off my face
and put them on your friend
Get your gaze off my ass
and put it on your dog's ass
Get that breath off my neck
and put it on no one''.
(For the series: ''Giacomo Leopardi, take a seat!'')
4:50 PM: From this moment, things start to make sense! It's the turn of Nothing But Thieves, a breakout band from the British music scene, very good and enjoyable. I hadn't listened to much of them, but after their performance, I decided to delve deeper. A total of only 8 tracks performed, all taken from their first self-titled album, except ''Amsterdam,'' a single anticipating their second album due in September, which closes their performance for a total of 45 minutes of concert. In my opinion, they deserved more time, but that's fine. Huge respect for the choice to honor the recently passed Chris Cornell with ''Cochise'' by Audioslave, instead of the usual and predictable ''Black Hole Sun'' by Soundgarden. Really a good start.
6:20 PM: It's the turn of Sum 41 led by Deryck Whibley, recently released with their new album ''13 Voices,'' with a new formation of 5 members, featuring Frank Zummo replacing historical drummer Steve Jocz and the return of Dave Baksh, who left the band in 2006 and returned in July 2015 to join Tom Thacker (present in the band since 2006 replacing Baksh initially as a session musician and then as an official member), so now the band can rely on the power of 3 guitars (Foo Fighters and Iron Maiden set the example). The band performs on stage with a scenography of unusually colored white Marshall amplifiers with red stripes, and an inflatable punk skeleton with its fingers forming the number ''41'' (with the 4 on the right hand and the middle finger on the left hand representing the '1') that deflates at the end of the performance. Deryck Whibley is in top form, captivating the stage excellently, proving engaging as ever, skilled in improvising and communicating with the audience. The classics are practically all there (''Fat Lip'', ''Underclass Hero'', ''Still Waiting'', ''In Too Deep'', ''The Hell Song'', ''Pieces''...) plus ''Goddamn I'm Dead Again'' and ''Fake My Own Death'' from the new album. To spice it up, snippets of ''Enter Sandman'' by Metallica, ''Smoke On The Water'' by Deep Purple (''It was the first song I learned to play on guitar,'' says Whibley), ''Seven Nation Army'' by The White Stripes with the usual ''po popopo popopo'' from the audience reminding them of Italy's triumph in the 2006 World Cup, and a super rocking version of ''We Will Rock You'' by Queen where Thacker and Baksh engage in a breathtaking guitar duet. Full marks indeed!
7:50 PM: It's the turn of Blink 182 after a five-year absence from Italy, and it's the debut in Italy of the new formation: Together with Travis Barker and Mark Hoppus (now the only original member of the band), there's Matt Skiba from Alkaline Trio, wearing a t-shirt with the tricolor and ''Mugello'' writing, a ''Ducati'' sticker on one of his Fender Jaguars, replacing Tom Delonge for the last two years and affirming his status as a permanent member, given his involvement in recording ''California,'' the new album the famous Californian trio is touring worldwide, gaining good acclaim. Blink 182's performance focuses more on the scenographic aspect than interaction with the audience: projections on a giant screen, flames, and confetti. The setlist goes from fan-favorite classics: it opens with ''Feeling This'' followed by ''The Rock Show'', ''I Miss You'', ''What's My Age Again?'', and ''All The Small Things'', interspersed with tracks from the new album like ''Cynical'', ''Bored To Death'' and ''She’s Out of Her Mind'' (Special mention for the last two tracks mentioned: the lyrics were slightly modified for the occasion, the first paying homage to Italy, the second sees Matt Skiba making a sort of love declaration to actress Asia Argento). An overall balanced setlist between the old and new, and the audience is happy, surprisingly absent are tracks from ''Neighborhood'', the last album recorded with Tom Delonge, released in 2011, and songs like ''Carousel'' and ''M+M's'' and ''Adam's Song'' (although its absence is more than understandable). Among the most hilarious moments, Matt Skiba showing off his Italian: ''This is the first song from our new album!'' (referring to ''Cynical'') as well as his repeated ''Grazie'' between songs, or the introduction of ''She's Out Of Her Mind'' where Mark Hoppus jokingly insults his wife Skye, present backstage on the left side of the stage along with their son Jack, by saying in English: ''This song is dedicated to my crazy bitch wife'', or the moment when Mark invites the audience to flip off the setting sun. In short, Blink 182 never lacks humor, demonstrating they still have what it takes to convince their listeners despite Tom Delonge's absence, which is nonetheless quite noticeable, but Matt Skiba handles it very well, proving not only to be Tom's replacement but also a frontman capable of winning over the Italian public (On his part, Skiba claims to be a lover of Italy). A performance that definitely surpasses all expectations, dispelling any skepticism.
9:45 PM: The X hour! After many hours under the sun, the wait is over, to the notes of ''Fallout'', Linkin Park storms onto the stage for the grand finale of the day! I've only known this band for 10 years (Unfortunately, I discovered them quite late) and never expected to see them live, having them just a few meters away had quite an effect. Who among you hasn't discovered and/or learned to appreciate Linkin Park by watching numerous Dragon Ball videos with their songs circulating on the web for years? They too have an album to promote: ''One More Light'', released on June 19 (Reviewed by me on this website about a month ago), receiving very mixed opinions, the band's pop turn hasn't convinced many and has divided fans. To start the performance, the band decides to open with ''Talking To Myself'', track number 3 from the new album, which seems more convincing live than in the studio version, at least in my opinion. The setlist is very varied: from the classics ''In The End'', ''Numb'', ''One Step Closer'', ''Papercut'', ''Breaking The Habit'', ''What I've Done'', ''Faint'' and the unexpected surprise of the evening ''A Place For My Head'', going through the more or less recent: ''The Catalyst'', ''Castle Of Glass'' (Unfortunately proposed in the ''Experience'' version remixed by Mike Shinoda, I would have preferred to hear the original), ''Burn It Down'' and ''New Divide'', ''Waiting For The End'' (Introduced by Mike Shinoda with a snippet of ''Remember The Name'' by Fort Minor, his side project). Except for ''Wastelands'', tracks from ''The Hunting Party'', the predecessor of ''One More Light'', are completely ignored. As for the tracks from the new album, 5 out of ten are performed: The already mentioned ''Talking To Myself'', ''Good Goodbye'', ''Heavy'', ''Invisible'' and an emotional version of ''One More Light'' where Chester descends from the catwalk and sings allowing himself to be touched and embraced by the arms of the front-row audience as if he were God descended on earth, while the rest of the autodrome raises lighters and cell phones with torches skyward like many shining stars, creating a truly indescribable atmosphere in a mix of many emotions that will continue with the next track: ''Crawling'' performed in a piano version by Mike Shinoda. During the performance, Chester reiterates once again the band's love for the Italian audience, as stated in the Rome date of 2015, adding with consequent audience enthusiasm: ''You are the real show!'' an assertion any band usually makes wherever they play, but the band seems decisively convinced about what they said, whether we can trust it or not is up to us. After almost an hour and a half, the band bids us farewell, putting ''the end'' to this long day with a thrilling ''Bleed It Out'' with Chester, Phoenix, Mike, and Brad Delson parading down the catwalk. A knockout blow for a memorable performance. In live settings, the band has not disappointed expectations showing they are still on top despite the passing years, the songs from the new album live even gain an extra edge and are definitely savored better, and as for the classics, there's little to say, a mix of sensations and memories from other times!
From here on, it will all be the usual post-concert depression. A day I won't easily forget!
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