Luciano Ligabue
Sette Notti in Arena

THE REVIEW

It's 1999. For the first time, Luciano Ligabue is in the Verona Arena to present the songs of ''Miss Mondo'', his new album. The first album of original songs after the millions of copies of ''Buon Compleanno Elvis'', the first album of original songs after San Siro and after the successful debut in cinema with ''Radiofreccia''. But Luciano Ligabue is in crisis. He's afraid of failing, perhaps, because after all that success, meeting expectations is difficult. Luciano also includes the new song "Sulla Mia Strada", a rock song, even in the lyrics, that fully reflects what he feels (''tell yourself what they want you to be, tell yourself what you want to be!''). Luciano sings it to that audience, his audience, which at that moment he feels is the cause of all his inner turmoil. He sings it with anger, with pain, he screams it as loud as he can, almost like an insult.

2009. Luciano Ligabue is back at the Verona Arena, for 7 concerts with his band and 71 members of the Arena's orchestra. A total of 77 musicians are playing behind him (77, a number that, interestingly, upside down becomes LL, his initials). Now Luciano is well. He is undoubtedly one of the biggest names in Italian music, a thriving industry, all thanks to his simple but brilliant music, with informal but never trivial lyrics. Compared to most Italian big names, he knows he is atypical. And he likes it. He also knows, however, that he owes all this mostly to his audience. That audience which, ten years earlier, seemed to him the cause of that crisis and to whom, on that same stage, he had screamed those harsh and defiant words. Now that the crisis is over, he enjoys the work he does, and has realized that the crisis was solely his fault, Luciano apologizes to his audience for that performance on that stage and sings the same song again, with the same energy, but without the anger and defiance. These nights in Verona transform into a live album, the third of his career, and what could be the opening single if not "Sulla Mia Strada"?

The album + DVD has the shortcomings of not having new tracks and coming out right after his two-part greatest hits. But it's a beautiful album, Luciano's third live album. If the first live ''Su e Giù da un Palco'' was a typical live rock album, the second, ''Giro d'Italia'', presented him in a theatrical form, with much softer and more elegant arrangements, ''Sette Notti in Arena'' combines the energy of rock with the elegance of the orchestra, showing Luciano in a new light.

Luciano sings warmly, confidently, impeccably, as never before on a live album of his. The orchestra is relevant and offers interesting reinterpretations of his classics and more recent tracks. The DVD is more complete, with one of the seven nights uncut and some backstage extras, while the CD collects the 13 tracks featuring the orchestra.

The album is worth it. Fans won't miss it, and those curious can get to know him a little better. 

My rating is four and a half stars.