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Rating: The concert is scheduled to start at 9:30 PM, so I arrive in Olbia with my usual early timing (7:00 PM), but to my great surprise, there's no crowd at the entrance... in fact, there’s almost no one. I exchange looks with my friends, and we read each other's surprise. Obviously, we overestimated the interest in the concert.
We enter. The stage is set on a pier in the old port of Olbia, and behind it, the masts of moored sailboats are visible. The air is heavy with humidity, and the beer from the kiosks seems insufficient to quench the thirst of the people who gradually begin to fill the seats in front of the stage.
By around 9:00 PM, the available seats are almost filled. Evidently, everyone was at the beach.
At 9:40 PM, a burst of applause lets us know that Lou Reed and his band have taken the stage. Our sixty-one-year-old looks like a youngster, highlighted by a tight black t-shirt and a pair of any jeans.
The concert begins.
Two guitar chords immediately hint at the opening song, a classic among classics: "Sweet Jane." Everyone stands up with arms raised to the sky as we start singing. Lou smiles. There's a great audience tonight. As the concert progresses, we have the chance to discover Lou's companions on stage.
Fernando Saunders is quite the multi-instrumentalist. He plays the bass like an electric guitar and occasionally juggles with an amplified drum or a stick. Plus, he has a great voice.
The cellist, Jane Scarpantoni, is both beautiful and talented. Her solo in "Venus In Furs" is thrilling. She embraces the cello and allows herself to perform indescribable musical evolutions. The audience cheers her on as if she were a guitarist. Unusual, but beautiful for a rock concert.
There's also room for the singer Anthony, who performs "Candy Says" by the Velvet Underground with a typically soulful voice. Some people turn up their noses, but it's not bad.
Among the gems of the evening is a beautiful version of "Ecstasy," characterized by endlessly distorted guitar, and some recited pieces from "The Raven," accompanied by tai chi style moves from master Ren Guang-Yi, dressed for the occasion in a bright red kimono.
Even in this case, the audience's perplexities are short-lived.
"Men Of Good Fortune" and "Sunday Morning" catapult us into Lou Reed's beloved past, as evidenced by the audience's singing, which becomes uncontrollable during the two songs offered in the final encore, "Perfect Day" and "Walk On The Wild Side."
At the end, everyone goes home with a smile on their face, humming du, du du, du du, du du du du...
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