Lorenzo Cherubini
Lorenzo Negli Stadi Backup Tour 2013

What a bore.

I don’t know about you, but I liked the young Jovanotti more during his goofy phase. “La mia moto” is a fantastic album in its youthful dullness, and even where he tries harder, like in “Lorenzo 1992,” the young Jovanotti proved he knew what he was doing (definitely a 5-star album, that one). Then he began to pontificate, entering that narrow but disastrous circle of the chic left that elected him as their bard and spokesperson, and then there he was playing with new-world with an album like “Lorenzo 1997” and off he went. Then came the discovery of techno, danceable tracks, and all that is known.

In 2013, having just sold a massive number of copies with the collection “Backup” (help, they even released an 8 CD version), there he was flying to San Siro for his first concert in a stadium. After thirty years of career, and there’s Ultimo who already filled it up a good number of times with just three songs.

The excitement must have been overwhelming because the live performance is staggeringly off. To say the least. The setlist has a bit of everything, and some things do stand out, like the funky “Non m’annoi” and the acoustic version of “Gente della notte,” but it’s a shame the rest is a hodgepodge of sounds that make neither head nor tail. From an endless “Tensione evolutiva” to “La mia moto” with a falsetto voice replacing that of the girl in the original piece (looking pretty desperate), from the usual “Mi fido di te,” done and redone in the exact same way as ever, to “Ti porto via con me” in a long version, too long.

If the trio “Io danzo,” “Muoviti muoviti,” and “Una tribù che balla” seem to work, mixed without any continuity, the finale makes you sick of it: “Bella” with a dedication to wife and daughter as if we were on Maria De Filippi, the circus rhythm (and why, for heaven’s sake?) of “Baciami ancora” to a “Penso positivo” that cries out to the heavens.

And let's not even mention the start, with the improbable mix of “Ciao mamma” and “Gimme five,” two of his worst songs, by the way.

Yes, it’s true, there are some small redeeming features here and there, a few twists are present, but overall it’s a discouraging live performance, a sign of the times and of a young Jovanotti now undisputed king of the masses to whom he offers cheap love songs and danceable energy at winter sales.