•
Rating: For several years I had promised myself to see Living Colour on stage. Having passed the days of big tours opening for the Rolling Stones, the four New Yorkers are now at home in the small venues around the world. This tour, supporting the recent and decent album "The Chair in the Doorway," touches five Italian cities, and Turin leads the way.
The Hiroshima, a mainstay for alternative music in Turin for years, once again proves to be warm and welcoming, showing a good and varied attendance. Young and old are united to celebrate a band that surely left its mark on rock music, for many and varied reasons.
Times respected, stopwatch in hand, and at 10 pm here come the Astigiani Warnipples, a promising band from Piedmont, devoted to street hard rock, taking the Los Angeles glam scene of the mid-'80s and Aerosmith as their main references, with a singer who resembles Steven Tyler. In short, their musical proposal clashes with the headliner's crossover, but playing "almost" at home and their good stage presence sees them emerge victorious after their set. The audience appreciates, they are ones to watch, even though bands devoted to this genre in Italy have never had much luck.
At 10:45 pm without great triumphalism, Living Colour take the stage. Before that, however, we could witness the massive drum set of Will Calhoun and the myriad of pedals and effects of both the acrobat Vernon Reid and especially bassist Doug Whimbish, who by the end of the evening will be the true protagonist of the concert. On the other hand, Corey Glover appears somewhat heavier in physique but fortunately still maintains a terrifyingly good voice which can be verified especially in the group's more soul and black numbers. As I imagined, the tracks from the latest album acquire even more strength live and do not at all pale next to the great classics. Decadence, Out of Mind, Young Man and the wonderful Behind the Sun, where we can admire Reid's tapping, already feel like classics and make you want to listen to the last work again to appreciate it even more.
Living Colour draw from all their albums, perhaps forgetting the penultimate "Collideoscope". Amidst killer hits like Go Away, Auslander, and Time's Up proposed in the encores, there are also two covers, Papa Was a Rollin' Stone and the unexpected tribute to Nirvana with a faithful rendition of In Bloom enhanced by Glover's voice.
Living Colour are having fun, and it shows, joking among themselves and interacting with the audience, all without neglecting passion, heart, and technique like that of the rhythm section. Wimbish delivers a great bass solo using it like a guitar thanks to the innumerable pedals at his disposal, and then Calhoun’s drum solo midway through the concert, a fifteen-minute act that draws the eyes of those present and warms their hands when it comes time to applaud the performance. A delightful skit on Elvis is Dead with the end transforming into Elvis's Hound Dog. Then, we couldn't miss Glamour Boys, the soul of Bi and their "career" song, that Cult of Personality that, who knows, the younger ones might have learned by playing it on Guitar Hero.
Exactly two hours of concert, played and spent greatly by a band of professionals who still enjoy being on stage, and this is evident and tangible, pouring it all over the audience who understand and reciprocate with respect. A band to have. Surely recommendable to all those who seek the maximum from music and a concert: technique, passion, and fun. What else could you want?
Loading comments slowly
