•
Rating: Hey you who are reading! Yes, I'm talking to you! Here we're talking about Radiohead, and more precisely about the two concerts in Ferrara: if you're not interested in another review of theirs (even if this one's a bit special) move on... you're not obliged to read it! Well, with this clarification done to avoid any issues, I'll go ahead and say that this will be a collection of anecdotes more than a review: there's no need to repeat how good they are, the atmosphere they can create, rank which Italian date was the best or things like that...
Friday, July 11
I decide to queue to be in the front row: if I don't do it when I have the fortune of living 200 meters from the concert venue, when will I ever do it? From outside, I listen to the soundcheck, which started at 3:30 PM: wow! but this is....."Nice Dream"!!! fantastic! and people hum along under the sun, recognizing, among others, "There there" and "Sail to the moon." In the end, I achieve my goal: front row in front of Thom's microphone, surrounded by guys from Rome (how many were there?!?!) who immediately notice my Jeff Buckley shirt, a great excuse to start chatting about this and that while passing the time; there's also a Croatian girl (who during the concert will get an unintentional elbow to the back of her head from yours truly...) and three American girls who have followed THE WHOLE EUROPEAN TOUR...
The Low alternate between somewhat lively songs (but not much, mind you! don't think it's something wild!) and others that are heartbreaking... in the true sense of the word... in those moments, they are "Low" in name and fact...
The Radiohead concert features a mix of old and new songs, with a predominance of those from HTTT. A funny scene during "My iron lung," when Johnny messes up brutally, the others start laughing, resume the song, and at the end, Thom turns smiling towards the audience saying "We are losing him!" while Johnny puts his hands on his face as if to be ashamed! In "The gloaming" the bass is so powerful that it makes everything shake, "Like spinning plates" done with the piano is strange but beautiful, and the concert ends with Thom introducing a "love song": "Street spirit." At the end, Piazza Castello empties and the surrounding streets fill until late at night...
Saturday, July 12
I decide to watch the concert from a more comfortable position, and in the morning, walking through the city center, I see the Croatian girl again, under the sun at 10 AM in the queue... sure, there are some really strange people! Today, I read on a forum that the 5 in the group enjoyed a day off on Saturday: some went shopping (Thom and Colin), some were with the child and stroller (Johnny), and someone wasn't even recognized by fans and was almost stopped by security when trying to enter the concert area (Phil, the drummer)!!! After the usual half-hour of reggae music that accompanies the stage technicians as they set up Radiohead's equipment after removing the Low's, the show starts: much more electronic, fewer old songs, but more famous, more known to the public: "Fake plastic trees" many people sing along, "Karma police" almost everyone (great choice, by the way, as a song to close the concert!). Among the songs played on Saturday and not on Friday, stand out "How to disappear completely," "A wolf at the door" (the "opening" of the chorus is moving) and especially "Fog," a b-side also known as "Alligators in New York's sewers," which was a real (and positive) surprise!
Great great great!
here are the two setlists:
Friday, July 11:
There there, 2+2=5, Lucky, Talk show host, Scatterbrain, National Anthem, Backdrifts, Sail to the moon, Kid A, My iron lung, Where I end and you begin, Go to sleep, Exit music, A punchup at the wedding, Paranoid Android, Idioteque, Everything in its right place (first encore) Like spinning plates (piano), No surprises, The gloaming, The tourist (second encore) Sit down stand up, Street spirit
Saturday, July 12:
there there, 2+2=5, fog, morning bell, talk show host, kid a, scatterbrain, national anthem, backdrifts, sail to the moon, fake plastic trees, go to sleep, where I end and you begin, pyramid song, wolf at the door, paranoid android, idioteque, everything in its right place (first encore) i will, the bends, the gloaming, how to disappear completely (second encore) sit down stand up, karma police
Last anecdote, which has nothing to do with Radiohead, but testifies (in its small way) to the greatness of Jeff Buckley, and what his music conveys to those who listen to it. Friday night, after the concert, I accompany a friend to the ATM, and in front of us is a girl with a huge backpack; she turns around, her eyes light up, and she asks us, very embarrassed: "Do you speak a little English?" then she continues "I know what I'm about to ask you will make me seem crazy but...(and she turns to me) if I give you money and another t-shirt, will you sell me yours?" I widen my eyes, incredulous, and she says "I'm from Memphis, Tennessee, I work not far from the Mississippi River, where he drowned... I even met him in person because he played for a long time in a venue nearby, but I never managed to get one of his shirts..."
...
ok, people are strange, and the story like this maybe doesn't do it justice, but you had to see the light in her eyes! Great Jeff!
Loading comments slowly
