Litfiba
Live al Manila - 23 Aprile 1983 [bootleg]

This is not the usual review of an LP or a live performance, but of something special, unique...a bootleg. It is a recording made with the mixer on April 23, 1983, at the Manila in Florence during the "Luna tour" by one of the greatest Italian rock bands: "Litfiba". Among my vast collection of Litfiba bootlegs (about a hundred), I chose this one because, besides having very good audio, it contains real gems, with published and unpublished pieces. Logically, not being an "Official" album, it doesn't have covers...so the one you see was made by me. The photo was taken at that concert...a historic concert.

But let's move on to the contents...12 tracks for a total of about 52 minutes. The concert begins with a very tribal bass and drum intro (Gianni Maroccolo and Renzo Franchi) to which Antonio Aiazzi's keyboards then join. Over this intro, which might remind of the instrumental melodies of "Eneide", you can hear the comments of a surprised audience. As Piero Pelù arrives, you hear comments like "here comes the chimpanzee" and various laughs; at the time, it was impossible to remain indifferent to Piero's flamboyance. After 2'30" of intro comes an unreleased track called "Notte", never published in any album, where Piero's singing is not very understandable. We can define the song as the ancestor of "Come un Dio", since the guitar riff is the same as the one used 4 years later in "17 re", (specifically the one played before the phrase "L’energia corre via.." n.d.r).
After almost 7 minutes, a second piece and a second unreleased track, "Tradimento"; it's a classic dark era track, very gloomy and esoteric, indeed the theme is God, Christ, Judas's kiss, the cross...a real gem and too bad it was never recorded (even though you can capture guitar riffs that were used for the legendary and subsequent "Tex" of 1988, n.d.r.).
The third track starts with a great drum line that takes your breath away, and you can already glimpse oriental music, close to the Asian world: it's "Dea del Fuji-Yama", for which a beautiful video clip was made (directed by Tony Verità, the same as "Altrove" by Diaframma, n.d.r..). The piece is filled with splendid guitar and keyboard riffs that transport us directly to Asia. Despite the video, this track was never officially recorded.
The fourth piece on the setlist is "Anniversary", with lyrics in English. It’s a slightly more cheerful piece compared to the first three, and it was officially published in "studio version" only in 1992, in the collection "Firenze sogna", even though the recording took place at G.A.S. studios in 1983. Evidently, it was meant to end up on some 7" or 12", but it was discarded.

In the fifth piece, you begin to see the great skills of Pelù with the French language: it's "Pigalle", another unreleased track from this concert and throughout "Litfibiana" history. A piece that begins with a sweet keyboard intro and Piero reciting: "Je préfère la nuit..."...you can already capture the always-present theme of darkness. The drums are always very frantic, the bass grinds, and the guitar is more atmospheric, creating splendid hypnotic and impactful walls.
The sixth piece is a new production, the B-side of the latest 45, "La preda". A sweet and mild introduction of keyboards then gives way to a powerful bass riff and a frantic and fast drum rhythm...slightly different from the "studio version" of 1983... The seventh piece is a favorite of the time, which never saw the light of day on record but was played from 1981 to 1984.....it's "After death". A very dark, spectral piece, with keyboards reigning eternally, making us live in a funereal atmosphere....very hypnotic, visionary, cranky... The eighth piece is hinted by Piero himself who shouts "Luna....uh". The version is that of the A-side of the latest 45, a true anthem of Litfiba in the early years. Then a new piece is presented, which will only be recorded a year later, in 1984: it's "Elettrica danza", another little gem full of oriental sounds, even danceable if we want..a real darkish dance, where the bass holds sway. Another piece, the ninth of the evening, is another new piece, recorded in 1983 for the 33 rpm "Body section" attached to the magazine "Rocherilla"..we're talking about Transea; a piece where the theme isn't very clear..maybe it talks of esotericism ("weak ray you can enter into me".."I waited for you at night") but some voices say it talks about a girl known by Maroccolo to whom Piero dedicated a text.

Then it returns to the old productions, retrieving from the first 12" EP "Litfiba" two splendid pieces: the first is "Under the moon", sped up compared to the original version and where Piero sings the title of the song in the chorus originally not sung. It closes with the splendid and always suggestive "Guerra", where a long keyboard intro projects us into a real battlefield. Curiously, Piero announces it as "Pace"....in the end, after only 52 minutes, a very intense concert ends, full of intensity, charm, shadows, and rarities.
Piero closes with a very spectral "Good night and thank you"....for an evening that, for those present at the time, will remain indelible.

Given the numerous unreleased tracks, it seems right to summarize the setlist:
1) Intro + Notte
2) Tradimento
3) Dea del Fuji-yama
4) Anniversary
5) Pigalle
6) La preda
7) After death
8) Luna
9) Elettrica danza
10) Transea
11) Under the moon
12) Guerra