Mala´s Italian job
I still have to write a report of the Copenhagen gig (which was really good, with a very enthusiastic crowd, and they played Put The Freaks, which was supercool, and I met about a gazillion fans), but I´m still on holiday in Barcelona, so quite frankly, I have other things on my mind than extensive blogging. Saw Vive La Fête here last Sunday and that was quite memorable too.
In the meantime, here´s a nice report of this week´s three Italian gigs that Mala kindly sent to me.
November 27th - 2:40 a.m. - Rimini’s train station
So this is where step one ends, or at least where it is supposed to end. Actually it won’t be finished until I’m safe in my bed back in Rome. This is just the beginning of my 3 days dEUS bender: Rimini tonight, Rome tomorrow and Milan on Monday. Basically something like going to hell and back.
So Rimini: got to the venue extra early and there they were, having dinner. Wow… I don’t know about the rest of you out there, but I haven’t seen these guys this close in 6 years so that’s quite moving. I’ll cut the bullshit short and go straight to the juicy bits: it was a great gig. Great set, splendidly played. But… I don’t know, it didn’t give me goosebumps, it didn’t make my eyes tear (though they even played Via, which is one of my favourites ever) as shocking as that may sound. Something was missing but it might have been just me. I’ve been counting off the days since bloody July, I know the setlists by heart, I heard some of this year’s livesets…. that might have spoiled the fun.
But the same show, another town, is waiting for me, 17 hours away… and let’s see what that is going to be like.
November 28 – 2 p.m. - a train to Milan
Picking this up again at the beginning of step number 3: we hit Milan today. Last night in Rome, the city I live in, and the best part of it was at the Alpheus. It was announced as a sold out but it actually wasn’t, though it was packed as hell.
Mauro put my esteemed colleague Mr. Giuseppe Siciliano and myself on the guest list, and we got aftershow passes too! dEUS hit the stage at 22:15 (a thing that never happened in Rome before: gigs don’t usually start before 23!!), Pocket Revolution and violet lights. I manage to sneak through a side door and get closer to the stage, also succeeding in the impossible task of finding my friend The Masked Rat among THOUSANDS. From here on it’s pure delirium. The boys on stage are in a better shape that yesterday, they laugh, they’re having fun and hell, I am too, annoying the fuck out every single person around me by singing at the top of my lungs and jumping around (and please, note that I haven’t jumped approximately since 1995) and while I’m doing this I also ask myself why would someone go through all the effort of making it to the first rows just to stand there, still as a freaking rock. I never understood that. The setlist is pretty much the same as yesterday, but goosebumps came this time. Must have been their mood, or Tom’s kind of angry way of singing. They looked happier, they played better. Theme from Turnpike’s outro was great and the same goes for Suds and Soda’s (the S the U the P the E the R, the S the H the A R and P). Tom and Mauro also did the Pharrell/Gwen Stefani impersonation (Tom: can I have it like that?; Mauro: you got it like that). Another wonderful set. Funny when the crowd started clapping along to Roses with Tom stopping singing to say “It’s not a clapping song”… never cross mr. Barman.
And now on me merry way to Milan….
November 29 – some time in the morning - Eurostar # 9444 to Rome
Froze my ass in Milan last night. Rumours had it that Millionaire joined the bill too but that didn’t happen. Not a club this time but more of a sports hall. What can I say that I haven’t said over the last two days? It was another great gig. Some technical problems pissed off Tom over the first few songs and Mauro seemed to be having some problem too. Everything solved, the gig carries on, the crowd goes mental and I’m run over by a human landslide, which pushed me about 8 paces away from where I was standing. Suds and Soda louder and freakier than ever.
Towards the end of the concert I saw Tim Vanhamel standing at the back of the stage and doing his special dance moves.
AFTERSHOW PARTY!! Tom was supposed to be djing in a club called Goganga (a very stupid name, if you ask me) so we moved on there. Rome aftershow was basically just sitting around having a few drinks, no music, non chills, no frills. This is a lot cooler: Millionaire are pretty wasted and they spend most of the time falling around. Tim is dancing all over the place, upturning tables in the process and nearly managing to get himself kicked out at least twice. The esteemed colleague and I got to interview Mauro, so nice of him freezing is ass outside the club for us, and I saw a look of terror in Tom’s eyes as I was going to greet him, probably scared to death that I was going to interview him too. I spared him, he was having too much fun.
The place closed around 2 a.m. with dEUS looking for another place to hit. Lost them along the way. Me, I just want to sleep. It’s been a very long weekend, lost some intelligence along the way, but hell, it was bloody well worth it.
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