The Libertines
Time for heroes

evening of (ordinary) madness9:30 PMI log on MSN and read Bubba's status saying: "Damn, my first accident, I have to rest for 5 days." I immediately call him to see how he is, and he tells me he's at Leo's, the accident was his fault, he’s fine but has 2000 euros worth of damage on his car. I say, "Well, at least you’re fine." He goes, "Why don’t you come over to Leo’s? Then we'll go to the Festa dell'Unità." "But you know, bub, the weather is crap." "No, it’s not raining." "Alright, okay... See you at Leo’s in half an hour."10:00 PMI arrive, and Bubba explains the accident to me in detail (a stupid mistake) and I say to Leo, "Look, I have some beer, what are you bringing?" "I have wine!" "Good! But what’s it like?" "We'll see..." 10:30 PMAt the UDU stand I bump into Masino. I talk a bit with him about the rain (which has caused irreparable damage to the stands, now destroyed) and Vendola's stoic performance... then I say goodbye. I hear music, we arrive at the main stage (meanwhile, the beers are already gone) just in time to hear the Apple Scruff playing 3 Beatles songs (thank goodness they weren’t supposed to play any...). By the second cover, Leo and I have already finished the wine (authentic, maybe a bit too young but certainly effective and full-bodied...). Bubba and Samuele don’t drink. 12:00 AMWe’re at the English Garden tree. I’m drunk. So is Leo. I find a guitar and start playing "Time for Heroes" by the Libertines (a really nice song), Leo and the others talk about Alessandra (figures!). 12:30 AMA policeman approaches us and says, "Guys, you have to leave because we’re closing the English garden early for public order reasons." "Really, why?" "Because there are West Ham English fans (I mentioned it to you, they mistook us for mafia at the first leg, and today there’s the match...) who are destroying everything at the Teatro Massimo!!" I look at Leo (as drunk as ever) and we say, "LET'S GO BEAT THE CRAP OUT OF THESE ENGLISH!!!" 1:00 AMWe arrive at the Teatro Massimo and there are about 50 English in front of the entrance... I join a group, pick up a beer bottle from the ground, smash it, pull up my keffiyeh over my mouth, and head off. Leo follows me. A dozen riot cops face us, yelling with batons: "WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU GOING??? AWAY, AWAY!!!" We back off. 1:30 AMWe take the long way around to get to the champagne bar (we heard that’s where the mess was) and what meets our eyes is a war zone: broken glass bottles everywhere, overturned soil pots, burning trash cans, and in front of the kebab stand even blood on the ground!! We arrived too late. The real chaos was around midnight, the English fans stormed the champagne bar, catching everyone off guard and causing the earlier mess. But you’ll read the rest in tomorrow's newspaper... 2:00 AMThe last of the English take the special bus and leave... apparently, there were more than two hundred. I saw the last 50. I go home. evening of (ordinary) madness.