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Rating: Arriving in Ferrara, a city I didn't know, I was immediately struck by the family-like, almost intimate atmosphere that such a human-sized city can create. Arriving at Piazza Castello, I was further surprised to see a truly characteristic place, practically perfect and intimate enough to stage a musical performance that deserves such an atmosphere.
The crowd is there, but it's not the usual crowd you see at other concerts, two bands like these can draw the attention of only a small (more so for the Fantômas) segment of the audience. Unlike other more grandiose concerts, I realize that here there are people who genuinely want to listen to the music.
At 9 PM, as scheduled, the concert begins with the FANTÔMAS taking the stage. It had been years since I had seen a concert start on time. We approach the stage and I can finally see the madman Mike Patton (crazy and former Faith No More) at the console. From the console with his slicked-back hair, he unleashes screams, jumps, launches alien samples, alien sounds, and adds effects to his voice. He is the leader of the group, watching the others attentively, as if to ensure that every frequency and every drumbeat is in its place. At times it seems like he's dueting with Dave Lombardo (legendary Slayer drummer) literally surrounded by drum pieces, almost as if closed in a cell. Lombardo is precise, he seems like a drum machine.
They start playing tracks from the new album, Suspended Animation, inspired by the world of cartoons, a delirium of genres, hardcore, metal, electronics encapsulated in short bursts sometimes just a minute long. Buzz Osbourne (former Melvins) launches guitar sounds with thrash rhythms that, interspersed with continuous tempo changes, leave us disoriented and with a sense of vertigo, we have no footing to save ourselves. Trevor Dunn (former Mr Bungle) contributes to weaving the rhythmic background together with Lombardo.
About 50 minutes of performance thanks mainly to Patton, the undisputed leader on stage compared to Osbourne and Dunn, who are somewhat subdued. It's a shame for Lombardo, practically hidden by a thicket of cymbals!
Patton bids us farewell in surprisingly clear Italian, comparing Lombardo to Rocco Siffredi's son and Buzz Osbourne to a cross between Pierino and something else I don't remember. Patton is truly incredible!
Now it's time for the SONIC YOUTH, people start crowding in to find a better spot under the stage. The 40 minutes of nerve-wracking but interesting preparations follow, setting up the stage with all the effect pedals and tuning all the guitars and basses used by the band. I think they tried dozens of guitars during the preparations. Around 10:30, the preparations come to an end.
With a loud cheer, Jim O'Rourke and Steve Shelley are welcomed as they come up first and begin to lay down a sound carpet that sets the stage for Lee Ranaldo and Thurston Moore, who are welcomed just as warmly. Finally, Kim Gordon takes the stage. She grabs the bass, and the first track begins to take shape. It's Kim's turn to sing, but the sound in the monitors doesn't convince her, and after an uncertain start, she has the sound adjusted, and the piece flows smoothly. They start with quite a few tracks from the new Sonic Nurse. From this point on, what can I say? If I said I remember the order of all the songs played, I'd be lying. A concert like this must be savored, taking too many photos already seems like a waste of time, as a way to break the atmosphere being created. After the initial moments when they seemed cold, they begin to make the stage their own and put on a show. Even Kim, whom I imagined more static, starts moving and engaging the audience.
Moore and Ranaldo change guitars with each piece: a new tuning for a new and ethereal sonic journey. Their live sound is fantastic, creating atmosphere and coddling you, accompanying you as if on a mental journey. Moore starts putting on a show using drumsticks to play the guitar, then starts to drag the strings over the steel pipes that hold up the stage. Jim O'Rourke is the most static, and Steve Shelley does his duty on the drums. Moore and Gordon joke with the audience after getting soaked with water guns.
The sweating begins, and the concert becomes increasingly lively. When "Teen Age Riot" comes on, it's chaos, and everyone jumps: it's the highlight of the entire concert. The songs flow until the fake end when they retreat behind the stage.
Just a few shouts are enough, and there they are again on stage for the final half-hour of the concert, which concludes with their noise-filled frenzy. Feedback is ubiquitous as they spin their instruments around them, varying the sound of feedback that, when affected, creates a sound that is nothing short of unsettling but exciting at the same time. Jim O'Rourke, who seemed static, starts slamming his guitar into the ground, Ranaldo and Moore then create extraterrestrial sounds until the ears are saturated with all audible frequencies.
Even Kim points the bass at the amplifier, and Moore, collapsed on the ground, uses another amplifier to create more disturbance until it almost seems like you hear a moan, but it's hard to tell if it's a voice or the elaborate result of all this tangle of sounds.
In the midst of this screeching, Sonic Youth bids us farewell and leaves us with a wonderful memory! 20 euros well spent!
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