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Rating: Step right up, ladies and gentlemen... another ride, another round! We're starting again! Another season is arriving and the musical circus that has been treating Rome like a gentle lover in recent years, even if it often doesn't deserve it, is back. The "scene" calls, and many respond, many more than in March, even though the locations and protagonists are the same.
The jester Stef Kamil Carlens, the undisputed king of the event, shows up in one of his eccentric outfits: a red pinstripe suit worn on a bare chest and boots with heels that scream Huggy Bear. The band's setup is the one that has accompanied him for the past few years: musicians arranged in a circle in the center of the room and carpets all around. A comfortable evening is in the cards.
Stef decides to open the dances in solitary splendor, wielding an acoustic guitar, but I arrive too late to understand what he's playing. As they weave through the seated audience, other band members take their places. We start with quiet things, balancing between the latest work "Big City" and "A Song About A Girls." "I Feel Alive in the City", "Je Range", "Intrigue" and then, unexpectedly, a dive into the truly past, from the days known as Moondog Jr., giving the faithful present the chills with a haunting "Tv Song". The group works perfectly, like a well-oiled machine. A bit of initial insecurity soon washed away by the enthusiastic response from the audience. The first smiles start, knowing glances, hip movements from the Radio Candip backing singers. "Thinking About You All The Time", "L'Opaque Paradis", "Hey You, Watshadoing?" and even the most static ones begin to keep time: many get up and dance; Tom Pintens, the disheveled guitarist, repeatedly has to clear the space between him and his monitor from impromptu Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers.
What genre is it? It's alternative, it's rock, it's pop, it's funky... but who cares? Labels slip away with the first drops of sweat. They're having fun, and so is the audience. The best thing is Joris's eternal sly smile on the keyboards, enjoying every single moment while singing and making funny faces at the others. Unlike the March concert, which focused more on new material, Stef and his band delve deep into the past, providing each piece with those tweaks, that particular charge that only a good live performance can offer.
They play for almost two hours without a single break, toss in an unrecognizable "Ricochet", bring out the slightly retro disco flavor of "My Bond with You and Your Planet", inciting chaos with a frenetic "Jintro and The Great Luna". They leave for a minute only to return and top off this colorful cake with a funky version of "Add It Up" by Violent Femmes. There's laughter, there's joking, it's a triumph. The circus thanks everyone warmly, dismantles the tent, and leaves. Stef has left the building.
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