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Rating: Six years of silence in the modern musical world, made of compulsive listening on Spotify of a handful of singles, are like a leap from one geological era towards a big chasm. A music market that is increasingly liquid and digital, pushing more towards instant hits rather than complete works.
All of this does not seem to interest Verdena much. The announcement of the new album and the supporting tour in the summer, practically sold out almost everywhere, with dates doubled if not even quadrupled, even before the release of the support. Whether they are mountain people who don’t give a damn about everything and don't make calculations is also shown by the absence of real launch singles, except for “Chaise Longue” which served more as an appetizer requested by the record label. A number which, by the way, is not even too enticing, a sort of b-side from the Wow period released incomplete.
If they are recently at home at Alcatraz, the shrimp and rosa sauce sandwich pre-concert, Eurospin brand, has become another almost constant hunger-breaker, which I usually follow with seasonal fruit depending on the period, orange for this evening.
After a chilly walk in an optimistic spring-like outfit, dancing between various traffic lights, I manage to arrive in time to see the unknown Howling Orchestra who, after a subdued start, try to entertain the audience waiting for the fateful hour. The sound probably isn’t particularly akin to that of the band that will follow shortly after.
21.30 finally with a bit of delay compared to the schedule, the background music fades out, the lights go out and the three from Albino appear on stage presenting themselves with “Pascolare” which has a good drive like a good part of its other siblings.
Time to finish the beer and after a couple of songs I try to pogo under the stage, recovering some positions.
The songs from the new album take up a lot of space in the setlist and the live versions give new life to the studio versions, the only pity being the muddy acoustics of the venue with those muffled sounds that would be fine for an electronic concert.
In the middle, there is a sizzling of bodies with constant drops of sweat that are only partially blocked by the venue’s ventilation system.
The wings, usually labeled in other fields as extreme collectives to be pruned, here prove to be as always moderate, where the center instead becomes a square of struggle, resistance, and pogo. With some predictable spark between those who want to pogo too much and those who would rather not see a fly move or even a smartphone. Probably, if the introduction of such devices were banned, only a partial collective hysteria would be unleashed, as in the end, no millennials are seen in the audience.
Other sparks come from the stage where Alberto writhes nervously with a pedal that doesn’t work properly, apologizing to the audience twice. Then comes the moment to strike with “Razzi, arpia inferno e fiamme,” before he quietly settles at the piano for the double “Scegli me” - “Puzzle.”
Brief break for them and for us and then the last rounds one after another, last greetings, and the semi-announced final blow with the title track that gives the name to the latest album. Generous hardcore adrenaline to finally drain the batteries before definitively interrupting the coitus and going back home wet.
Even without considering “Volevo Magia” as one of Verdena’s fundamental works, I am glad I didn’t resell the ticket and satisfied to see how they can still entertainingly perform and make you fly high.
If I wanted to find a flaw, besides the already mentioned acoustics, I would have appreciated some further recovery from “Suicidio del samurai,” but then I remember that I have already had the chance to listen live to some of the older songs.
The musical evolution of Verdena from “Viba” to “Volevo magia” has been evident, as parallelly mine has been from the first time I saw them incredulous during the Wow tour in the countryside of my small town in the deep South, with other intermediate passages until reaching tonight at the center of the World and not knowing who plays at home and who plays away anymore.
Years pass, you can see the first timid gray hairs, you become existentialist pains in the neck, but the sparks remain a beautiful constant to remove the superfluous.
Setlist:
Pascolare
Crystal ball
Dialobik
Chaise longue
Cielo super acceso
Paul e Linda
Viba
Starless
Luna
Don calisto
Nei rami
Trovami un modo semplice per uscirne
Razzi arpia inferno e fiamme
Sino a notte (D.I.)
Canos
Loniterp
Puzzle
Scegli me (un mondo che tu non vuoi)
Encore:
Muori delay
Valvonauta
Un po’ esageri
Sui ghiacciai
Volevo magia
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