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Rating: There are things in life that can play a fundamental role in the development of one’s life. They make you drift away or bring you closer to the various worlds of knowledge. It's not necessarily the case to meet a guru on the streets who falsely modestly tells you that "happiness is found within yourself," but it is certainly true that it lies in the small things. Some people need strong emotions made of risk and seeking the limits.
The NomeansNo are the greatest band on the planet, the most sunny, the most indecipherable, the funniest, the least banal, the most powerful and without having to showcase a showroom of Marshall amplifiers. They are the compendium of indie-punk music, capable of mixing a clear Zappa-like attitude for mathematical rhythms with the same ability to make fun of themselves, enhancing their empathy towards the audience with punk rock, only to dive back into rhythmic solutions impossible for humans.
I believe I love unconditionally few others like them: they are a style reference, of living well without getting hung up, of being consistent and loving what you do. This year marks only the third time they come to Europe and the Barrumba, which leaves the historic venue of Turin for a slightly secluded place, but of great charm, with the mountains leaving visible on the slopes another message of strong denial, but at the same time of declared choice (No Tav), and whose slopes immerse themselves in the lake, is truly an ideal place to welcome the group from Vancouver who lend themselves before the concert to openly talk with yours truly.
The performance is preceded by Stearica, a group from Turin, who had also accompanied Zu a few weeks earlier at the Ortosonico in Pavia, essentially recreating a sound matrix that spans all instrumental post-rock. Then them. A great start, which preludes to a setlist really aimed at the more light-hearted vein of their punk rock repertoire, with fast and fun tracks, including I‘m an Asshole as an opening track, which at the end of the concert will echo the great Big Dick, as always a must. And so it quickly moves to pieces from the latest album All roads lead to ausfahrt including In her eyes, So low, Mondo nihilissimo 2000 before diving into HISTORY, that of "Wrong" to be precise, their true summa with Two lips, two lungs and one tongue and the amazing The Tower preceded by Nothing and Long days, yet again Dark ages, all sustained by just bass and drums. The set closes with Slugs are burning before stopping for only a few minutes and resuming with an encore at a smoke-filled tone with the already mentioned Big Dick and Now that puts the ceilings of the Barrumba to the test. Everyone asks for Oh no! Bruno! but the NMN send us home satisfied nonetheless.
What can I say: it's the tenth time I've seen them since '91 when they gave an epic concert at the Caluso swimming pools playing with Peggio inside the pool... 16 years have passed and still today, like then, they manage like no one else to make me HAPPY. NomeansNo truly have a therapeutic role, so therapeutic that I keep in view in my office the photo with John Wright with a dedication to better face Monday.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 It's Catching Up (04:09)
Have you heard the news?
The dead walk..
Do you hear that sound?
Do you hear that sound?
Like fingers scratching underground?
Do you hear that sound?
That slamming door?
I’ve fought it all my life
But I can‘t fight it anymore
It‘s catching up, I‘m fucked
A dead duck, shit outta luck
How do you hide from
Something you have found?
Do you hear that sound?
That scratching sound?
Ii it better to be lost or found?
You can‘t ignore it
You can’t talk it away
You can’t drink it away
You can’t fuck it away
It‘s catching up, I‘m fucked
A dead duck, shit outta luck
Give my asylum, let me in
I am mad, you are my only witness
There are some things that never die
Things that really never were alive
I’ve shut them out
I’ve slammed th door
But i can’t keep them back
Anymore
It‘s catching up, I‘m fucked
A dead duck, shit outta luck
03 Rags and Bones (05:22)
Chirst was married on the cross
My father was married to my mother
Am aim married to a cigarette butt
Lying in the gutter
Rags and bones
Are we finally alone?
White man, you
You just started to get the blues
White man, you
You just started to get the blues
Rags and bones
Are we finally alone?
The beast has arisen
The sins are forgiven
In the belly of the beast
I shall be released
She rises captain!
Captain dive! Dive!
If i could choose to belive
Or not to believe
You know i would choose not to
If i could choose to belive
Or not to believe
You know i would choose not to
But i can’t coose
Rags and bones
Are we finally alone?
Whoo would’ve thought that i would be
A sailor on the deep blue sea
Any old rags and bones?
04 Body Bag (06:39)
They say the eyes are the windows of the soul
But i love all the little dark holes n your body bag.
Your little willie, he's oh, so pretty,
And those titties, and those titties in the body bag.
Nobody knows you and nobody wants to.
Willie's poised to dive into flesh,
Something tells me he will leave a mess in the body bag.
When we kiss my eyes are closed,
My lips are full, i breathe through my nose in the body bag.
Nobody knows you and nobody wants to.
See the children play in the mud,
Moulding balls of faces and blood from the body bag.
All praise for corporal flesh;
The smell of love, the smell of death from the body bag.
Is it a womb or is it a tomb?
A sac of water that's quiet and warm,
A complex shape's beginning to form,
On marble slabs you're flat on your back,
All colours fall into the basic black of the body bag.
The creatures of earth are countless and strange,
Open your lips and tell me the name of your body bag.
All praise for corporal flesh.
05 Brother Rat (02:11)
let's go out and see what we see
let's go out and see what we see
just you and me just you and me
and there will be no other brother
brother we'll knock back a few and talk about life
we'll knock back a few and talk about life
and what is right and what is right
we'll talk about life and what is right
and there will be no other brother,
buddy, pal, comrade, friend
buddy, pal, comrade, friend
until the end a shake of the hand,
a pat on the back a shake of the hand,
a pat on the back a knife in the back,
a knife in the back i'll buy you a beer,
a knife in the back and there will be no other brother
we're one in the same, you and me
we're one in the same, you and me
we're brothers, brothers in arms
we're friends until the end
we're brothers, brothers in arms
until the end your end brother rat
09 Victory (07:51)
When I set out on this journey I thought it would never end
When I started down that road I could not see the end
And when I took that first step I fell in so deep
And all those things that were so hard-won I thought I would always keep
Now what do you think I see standing like a wall in front of me
Defeat, not victory
Defeat, not victory
Defeat, not victory
chorus:
So what are you going to do? Die?
No you gonna lay down and die?
No I will not admit defeat I will not admit defeat
I will see victory
Pride and deceit have choked my life like weeds
And I lost sight of what I really had what I really need
And all the things I should've valued
I gave away for a prayer and a song
And now when I reach out for them they are gone
Now you know what I see standing in front of me
Like a headstone a fucking monument to human misery
Defeat, not victory
Defeat, not victory
Defeat, not victory
chorus:
Do I have any friends here?
I can't see are any of my friends here?
I can't see what about you?
Will you be a friend to me?
What about you? Will you be a friend to me?
I've got a question to ask you and then you can ask it of me
It's a simple request and then you can make it of me
Can you forgive me? Can you see what will be?
Is it victory?
Now I can't show you all the things I ve seen
And I can't make you feel anything
Certainly not what they meant to me
And someday I know, no matter how hard we try
We are all going to have to lay down and die
So maybe I should just tell you what I hope and believe
For every defeat there will be a victory
For every defeat there will be a victory in defeat,
victory
10 Dark Ages (05:37)
We are living in the, in the dark ages
Haven't seen some daylight in what seems ages
All the information is locked far beyond
Locked in circuits and bathed in silicon
And we're fast asleep with our dreams seething in
And though all is still we are still breathing
But it's him in the dark, he makes me null and void
But it's him in the dark,
I think I m paranoid
A world of half-truths, what goes
Unspoken lines of communication are stripped and broken
And the dark is cold with hands freezing
But this deep-freeze seems strangely pleasing
And the powr-trippers receive facelifts
And the button-pushers all work night shifts
And the misdemeanors seem so ghastly while the media punch is so lasting
And the eastern comrades find out much too late
And free men are free to subjugate under megashadow, under nine to five
Still it's self-extinction that keeps us alive
We are living in the, in the dark ages haven't seen some daylight in what seems ages
All the information is locked far beyond
Locked in circuits and bathed in silicon
I don't know go to sleep we are in the dark ages
11 The End of All Things (05:40)
You are here
I am here
Fear
Bound in fear
We are here
I see nothing
All is clear
Crystal clear
Fear
All that's here
Pain and fear
I see here
Nothing
Hear the angels sing
This is the end of all things
All is clear
Nothing's here
Fear
What is fear?
Nothing's here
I see here
Nothing
Hear the angels sing
This is the end of all things
12 The Day Everything Became Nothing (05:30)
The day everything became nothing, I was standing underneath a streetlight, Wishing I’had a cigarette. I can't recall anything unusual about it. If there was something in the air, If the skies had clouded over, I’wasn't aware, I’was too bored to care. No thunder roared. No lightning cracked. No missiles rained from the sky. This was no sneak attack. There was just suddenly this awful lack. Things had changed, that's for sure. The day everything became nothing, you couldn't put your finger on what had gone wrong. The alleys were still dirty; the garbage still smelled; There was no panic in the streets; Just a lot of grief... In people's faces, in their eyes...a mixture of horror and total surprise. This was no apocalypse. No one heard a voice from the sky, There were no miracles at the 7-eleven, No one screamed, no one even asked why. It was just like everything had somehow, quietly died. So let it die! I can't recall much of what happened next. I was on my way to visit this woman I’knew. All we had in common was good sex, And now I’couldn't even remember her address. A group of us, just strangers, got together and we formed a committee to discuss the problem. We talked about things like assured mutual destruction and emotional responsibility. I couldn't remember my name, so I’called myself bob. It's weird being a bob, but i'll get used to it. I have to.
13 Dead Souls (01:49)
Dead souls, Dead souls they're coming, I’know (2 times)
Dead souls, Dead souls they want my soul (2 times)
Dead souls, Dead souls they'll find me, I’know (2 times)
Dead souls, Dead souls they need to feed (2 times)
Dead souls, Dead souls they'll find me, I’know (2 times)
I know I’know dead souls, dead souls dead souls, dead souls
14 Metronome (07:35)
I want to break the things that seek
To control, I want to live my life with
No rules at all, I want to smash the
Lips that smile down on me, I want
To rip and teer until I am free
Steady, keep it, steady
METRONOME
I want to touch the places lost deep
Inside, I want to see the ugly faces
That hide, I want to mach down to the
End of what's there, I went to strip
The surface till all is bare
Steady, keep it, steady
METRONOME
I want to jump out of my skin and be
Free, I want to kill the little thing that
Is me, I want to laugh and giggle, I want
To scream, I want to wake up from this
Life crushing dream, I want to wash my
Body bare in the stream, I want to
Liberate this human machine, I want to spit
And grovel I want to shit, I want to
Make you wonder what is it? What
Is it?
You know one thing that I think attracts people
To a steady beat, to a steady beat, is the certainty
Of where it will be, of where it will be, in the next
Moment, its inevitability with no variation, the
Comfort and security of knowing what and who you
are, you hear that beat, you hear that beat, it's
Beating on you, it's beating on me, you hear that beat,
You hear that beat, it's beating on you, it's
Beating on you.
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