Litfiba
12/5/87 (Aprite i vostri occhi) VIDEO

THE REVIEW

This review does not dwell on the technical aspect of individual songs. The quality of certain tracks is indescribable to me ("Tziganata" and "Come un Dio" above all). For an excellent review, I recommend Ringo Starfish's.

What I want to talk about revolves around the strange choices that accompanied the release of this fabulous live. Honestly, I don't understand the method with which Litfiba made certain choices, and I don't entirely approve of it. Starting from the fact that Litfiba had a certain setlist during the Lives that is almost not respected at all in the LP's song list.

The VIDEO concert (whose quality is not exactly DVD-level) does indeed open with Come un Dio, but you don’t hear those strange verses that Pelù performs during the intro of basso by the excellent Ma roccolo. One wonders why... simple, this song is actually repeated three times - at the very beginning of the concert, towards the end again, and as a conclusion instrumentally while Pelù, not at the microphone, seems to pray towards Mecca (!). The second version (containing precisely the initial shouts) performed on May 12 seemed decidedly better to Litfiba, so much so that it was included in the record.

And while there is no trace of Resta throughout the document (who knows why then?), the second song performed is La Preda - nothing new on the horizon, except the loss of the voice's return in the final insult ("you thought you were hunting but now you are the prey"). New surprise: the piece that immediately follows is none other than Eroe nel vento, performed with considerable vigor, where Piero and Ringo give their best. Honestly, I don't understand why it was excluded from the final setlist. The issue of limited space doesn’t hold up, the practice of a double LP already existed (and Litfiba themselves used it in 17 Re). A great loss to the album.

Cane doesn't present anything special (except that the initial dedication is cut off halfway). The following piece, unlike the album - where we find Tziganata, which comes much later - is already Apapaia... but the new (yay!) surprise comes right after: Ballata which in the album closes the concert is here performed as the sixth song! Bah!

Vendette and Luna are indeed joined (oh! Finally no copy/paste performed in the final mirage).

Another song omitted in the record is Onda Araba, which opens the second part of the concert. A more acceptable choice, as the excellent Tziganata is preferred (the song with, for me, the worst shots of the whole concert, damn it!)

For Ferito the only difference is that, quite predictably, the initial attack on minister Spadolone is almost entirely cut (it's not a typo, that's what Pelù calls him in his autobiography), except for the phrase "Grazie Giovanni!".

Here comes Re del Silenzio. I won't comment on the fact that following Ferito on the record there is Apapaia, which was already performed in the first half of the concert, by now we are used to these "details".

After the version of Come un Dio that appears on the album (the second of the evening), the two most serious cuts of the whole evening for me arrive. Personally, I would have done without Vendette/Luna (which I like nonetheless) to see these two songs included on the record and performed live. Sure, the possibility of seeing them on video compared to the many fans who don't even know about the existence of the film document of the concert makes me quite proud: Istanbul - LEGENDARY even live - and Guerra - very intense - my two favorite songs by Pelù, Renzulli and company, are completely omitted! Particularly the latter I mentioned is quite extended compared to the studio version and, with a grand finale, connects to the last version of Come un Dio, all bass and guitar, with Pelù kneeling with his back to the audience as before. It should be noted that the massive (both in sound and physical height) Ringo during this song stands up and destroys the entire drum set with blows of the charleston!!!

In short, from what you have been able to read, you understand how Litfiba indeed did not re-record anything from the concert in the studio, but made major cuts and choices not always agreeable (old-school fans like me, who unlike me are over 17 years old, will agree on Istanbul and Guerra, I believe and hope). What I can say in conclusion to this particular review is that I didn't write it to brighten your day but to tell you a bit of the curiosities I glimpsed in observing the concert and above all to tell you that I love Litfiba so much that I forgive them ALMOST everything (except for having composed the album Infinito! eheheh).

P.S.: not for nothing, for some time I've been signing 'Lo Tzigano'.