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Rating: It is wonderful how Premiata Forneria Marconi, from the '70s onwards, has gifted us with excellent Progressive Rock compositions, and has continued to revisit them up to the present day. Perhaps in the studio, PFM is rather weak: somewhat dull sounds that do not at all resemble what we (today) define as '70s Rock. And yet they tried anyway. They had the courage to offer us these songs, and some accepted them well, even very well. But for those who are not satisfied with what they offered in the studio, you can comfortably trust this Live in Siena. Recorded in 2004, it collects the most famous pieces of Premiata, in a more modern guise, closer to our times, with more electronic sounds, yet always with that hint of PFM that they've carried with them all these years. With the participation of Mauro Pagani, the greats of Italian Progressive Rock astonish us once again. A live not to be missed.
The live begins with a small instrumental introduction, of only winds, keyboard, and guitars, called "Rain Birth". It is the ideal intro to transition to the second song, one of the most famous and most desired by the audience, "River of Life", also known as "Appena un po'". The song, compared to the studio version, is very energetic, what PFM lacked in the early years of their evolution. It continues with another very famous piece, "Photos of Ghost", (formerly "Per un amico"). Again, the charge is not missing. But we don't need to repeat it all the time. We've understood by now. After gifting us with two English pieces, it moves to the main event, what the public most expects in a PFM live, "La Carrozza di Hans". A small spoken intermission by Franz Di Cioccio, just enough time to prepare for "La Luna Nuova". After that, dear Franz announces a change in the setlist, and they decide to pay tribute to Fabrizio De André, rolling out from the oven a piece that hadn't been done in a long time, "Un Giudice". Then it returns to the usual pieces, with "Mr. 9 Till 5", which many will remember as "Generale". From there, it moves to the instrumental phase, with "Siena Violin Jam", a jam session performed live and completely improvised. From here, the setlist degenerates a bit. First, PFM performs 2 minutes of "William Tell Overture" by Rossini, then moves to a medley composed of "È Festa", "Se Le Brescion", a little game that PFM plays with the audience, and then it resumes with "È Festa", closing the splendid evening on a high note. We could say, as a general summary, that this album is a re-modernization of the most celebrated songs of Premiata Forneria Marconi. And you know what I tell you? The result, besides being ingenious, also deserves a nice 100 and praise. The entire album is listenable, there isn't a song that spoils the album (except for those 2 light minutes of "William Tell Overture" and the 'tiring' "Se Le Brescion").
A DVD of the splendid evening is also available, absolutely a must-have.
Setlist: 01. Rain Birth (1:37) 02. River of Life (6:49) 03. Photos of Ghost (6:15) 04. La Carrozza di Hans (6:57) 05. La Luna Nuova (7:55) 06. Un Giudice (4:42) 07. Mr 9 Till 5 (5:11) 08. Siena Violin Jam (3:36) 09. Rossini's William Tell Overture (2:10) 10. È Festa (Celebration) (2:56) 11. Se Le Brescion (6:30) 12. È Festa (Reprise)
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