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Rating: The rhythm of the heat - D.I.Y. - On the air - Intruder - Mother of violence (sung by Melanie Gabriel) - Sledgehammer - Signal to noise - Big time - Family snapshot - Solsbury hill - Lay your hands on me - Blood of eden - In your eyes - Biko.
These are the tracks performed by PG and his band, not in the order of execution except for the 2 encores and the first 3. I had already seen PG in May 2004 at the Forum in Milan, and a brief account of that evening is a necessary premise for the subsequent description of the Rome 2007 concert. The concert was of a fullness and explosive sound power that I would have never thought, enough to fill the ears and swell the stomach. Bass, guitar, and drums along with skillfully introduced samples and PG's voice blended perfectly, creating a unique sound, not stereotypical, filling every square centimeter of the venue. The scenic/visual show was at a very high level, with an enormous stage full of different lights moved with mastery, on which PG flaunted his "usual" antics like the motorized scooter, the camera, or the giant ball from inside which he sang "Growing Up" while jumping with the audience. Most of the tracks played were from Up but there were also some gems like the touching "Here Come The Flood" in the piano/voice version, the mystical "San Jacinto" or "Red Rain". PG's voice was heartrending, a true emotion, punctuated by the immense technique of Tony Levin on bass, the solos of the brilliant David Rhodes, and the metronome Ged Lynch on drums who wasn't the best but managed to "play his part" nonetheless. The only one I didn't like was Rachel Z on keyboards, despite enjoying much critical acclaim. It's easy to deduce that I left thrilled.
That said, when I got the ticket for Rome 2007, I was aware that it would be a good concert, but I didn't imagine the magic of Milan could be repeated. I thought this mainly because I was familiar with the event location, which was held at the Capannelle Racecourse, which is certainly a different place from the Forum in Milan. It's a place where the astounding choreography of Milan cannot be created, and in addition, the audience pool is much smaller since the capacity was lower. Moreover, in Milan, he was still promoting Up with his Still Growing Up Tour, while now he's not promoting anything new. For all these reasons, I thought he might play for an hour, a great hour of high musical density, and that's it.
I was wrong.
July 3, 2007, 9:45 PM PG and his team take the stage in Rome and start strong with "The Rhythm Of The Heat", sung and shouted to perfection, with class, a track with which PG started his North American tour concerts in 1982. Right after, there's the cheerful "D.I.Y.", which makes the audience hum along, and on the spacey keyboards of "On The Air", raise their arms in surprise at a PG perfectly at ease with the others doing pieces from 1980 that still sound fresh. Thank God his voice hasn't failed (though logically it can't be the same as "The Lamb...") and so he modulates it and hypnotizes us as he knows how, with the high notes and the rarefied atmospheres of "Blood Of Eden", or darkens it and fills it with anger and meanness in Intruder, or lets it go warm and moved on the notes of "Family Snapshot". Original "Mother Of Violence" well sung by his daughter Mel even though we all would have preferred him for such a touching track. Magical moments on the particular and refined rhythms of "Lay Your Hands On Me", a splendid track not played for a long time, pure fun in "Sledgehammer", "Solsbury Hill" and "Big Time", moving as always the final "Biko", with which they bid us farewell, until soon...
Two words about the musicians: Tony Levin and D. Rhodes are, as is now a constant, exceptional, incredibly talented musicians with sheet music instead of DNA, Ged Lynch was brilliant, more incisive and tough on the drums compared to 2 years ago. He's not at the level of Manu Katche from the Secret World Live Tour, but his drum sound is slowly becoming his own. Richard Evans is very talented, you think he's almost redundant, you think you can do without him, but the difference would be felt, and PG knows it. He is eclectic, accompanies with the guitar, switches to the synth, and even marimbas. On keyboards, Angie Pollock replaced Rachel Z, one woman for another, younger... I was a bit skeptical, I have to say, I didn't know her, and she impressed and surprised me positively, not at all struggling next to sacred monsters like the bassist and guitarist. The audio of the event was perfect, and even the visual effect wasn't bad, it was well curated, and despite not having anything to do with the grandeur of Milan, there were many little lights of various sizes and a high cost.
This Rome concert was an invaluable emotion, the setlist was magnificent (and it's worth noting that the tracklist is so precious because PG let us choose it, giving us the opportunity to express preferences on his site before the concert...), the voice and musicians spot on, perfect sound, and in addition, a PG that in Italy, like everywhere he goes, speaks your language, explains what he sings, and if you want, you discover that he doesn't sing about trivialities, he sings about themes that are eternal, talks about violence, apartheid, men, crises!
And he is someone who looks you in the face, not from above as many others who in comparison to him are nothing in music... Come back soon Peter, Italy is waiting for you!
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