Tre Allegri Ragazzi Morti

Known for their masked performances and raw, essential rock shows, Tre Allegri Ragazzi Morti are regarded as one of the pillars of the Italian alternative rock scene since forming in 1994. Formed under the guidance of celebrated comic artist Davide Toffolo, the band is made up of drummer and founding member Luca Masseroni and bassist Enrico Molteni, who joined for their first official album "Piccolo intervento a vivo" (1997, BMG/Ricordi), preceded by the self-released cassettes "Mondo naïf" (1994), "Allegro pogo morto" (1995) and "Si parte" (1996). "Piccolo intervento a vivo" is a live album: the band's first record of original material proper would have to wait until 1999, with "Mostri e normali", again for BMG/Ricordi. It was with this record, poised between pop and rock, that the fame and live activity of Tre Allegri Ragazzi Morti began to grow significantly. Their relationship with the major label was short-lived, however, and in 2000 the band released the EP "Il principe in bicicletta" on the newly founded label La Tempesta, which over the years would give rise to much of the best independent music in Italy.

2001 saw the release of "La testa indipendente", produced by Giorgio Canali, which contains one of their best-known songs: "Ogni adolescenza". The band's prolific career continued in 2004 with "Il sogno del gorilla bianco", an album marked by light ethnic touches. The trio released their fifth album in 2007, titled "La seconda rivoluzione sessuale", one of their most beloved works, featuring the single "Il mondo prima". On the following album, "Primitivi del futuro" (2010), the first reggae influences begin to appear, blended with ethnic sounds, leading up to the release of "Nel giardino dei fantasmi" in December 2012.

To celebrate a 2013 that saw them established as one of the leading bands on the Italian scene — helped along by a tour alongside Jovanotti, with whom they shared the stage at Italy's biggest stadiums — Tre Allegri Ragazzi Morti embarked on a European tour taking in London, Brussels, Paris and Barcelona. In July of that year, they released a live album titled "Il fantastico introvabile live. Bootleg" as an optional bonus with issue 88 of Repubblica's XL magazine.

2014 was dedicated to the band's 20th anniversary (#tarm20 – a year-long celebration), marked by the publication of Davide Toffolo's autobiographical graphic novel "Graphic novel is dead", the staging of a musical based on the comic "Cinque allegri ragazzi morti", and the "Aprile 1994" tour, in which the band performed their early cassette releases in full, notching up several sold-out shows across the country.

In 2015 Tre Allegri Ragazzi Morti played the "Unplugged" tour, a series of acoustic shows in small venues (which gave rise to the album "Unplugged – Live"). In May of that year came the album "Quando eravamo swing", a collection of tracks rearranged with the Abbey Town Jazz Orchestra, featuring a collaboration with Maria Antonietta on the track "Occhi bassi serenade", followed by a summer tour in support of the record.

On 12 January 2016 the band announced the release of "Inumani", which came out the following March on La Tempesta and was preceded, on 25 February, by the first single taken from it, "In questa grande città (La prima cumbia)", featuring Jovanotti. Thanks to "Inumani", Tre Allegri Ragazzi Morti appeared on several TV shows, including "Quelli che…" and "Che tempo che fa". The tour that followed comprised around sixty dates, many of which featured special guests Monique Mizrahi and Adriano Viterbini (Bud Spencer Blues Explosion) joining the band on stage.

On 30 October 2018 Tre Allegri Ragazzi Morti released the single "Caramella", followed by "Bengala" and "Calamita", tracks that preceded "Sindacato dei sogni", the album of new material released on 25 January 2019.

On 3 May 2019 Tre Allegri Ragazzi Morti performed a special concert broadcast on Rai Radio2, live from Sala B on Via Asiago in Rome for 'Radio2 Live', closing out a run of indoor dates that racked up numerous sold-out shows.

2021 saw Davide Toffolo appear at the Sanremo Festival 2021 as a guest of Extraliscio, and Tre Allegri Ragazzi Morti perform at Rome's May Day Concert. 2022 brought the release of the album "Meme K Ultra", a collaboration with Cor Veleno, followed by a tour across Italy. At the end of 2022, Tre Allegri Ragazzi Morti took "Pasolini, concerto disegnato" on tour: drawings, music, images and words inspired by the biography of the Friulian poet. During the show, the body, voice and scandalous thoughts of Pier Paolo Pasolini guide the brushes of Davide Toffolo, who, over the music of Tre Allegri Ragazzi Morti, draws the writer's story live on stage.

2024 marks the band's thirtieth anniversary, a special milestone celebrated by Tre Allegri with a year-long string of surprises and new releases, spanning singles, albums, cassettes, videos, exhibitions and concerts across Italy and Europe: from the reissue of the legendary red cassette of "Mondo Naïf" to the release of "Urla forte Pordenone", the unofficial anthem of Pordenone Calcio, as well as the exhibitions "Come Mi Guardi Tu – Tre Allegri Ragazzi Morti negli occhi di 40 fotografi" at the Museo Nazionale della Fotografia in Brescia (14 July to 8 September 2024) and "Tre Allegri Ragazzi Morti Expo" at PAFF! Palazzo del Fumetto in Pordenone (7 November 2024 to 9 March 2025).

April 12, 2024 is the release date of "Garage Pordenone", the band's tenth album. Preceded by the singles and videos for "Ho'oponopono" and "La sola concreta realtà", the album's release is accompanied by the video for the third single, "Mi piace quello che è vero". The same date marks the start of a tour of over 40 dates. Opening with a concerto disegnato at the Regina Fumetti Festival, the tour takes in - with numerous sold-out shows - the country's major festivals and includes an unprecedented three-night stand at Mi Ami in Milan: Tre Allegri Ragazzi Morti make festival history, becoming the first artists ever to perform on all three nights, with three unique shows, each dedicated to a different decade of their career.

October 4 brings the release of the new track "La nuova canzone per me", accompanied by an animated video. Live dates continue across Europe, with shows in England, Germany, Belgium, Spain and Switzerland, and an extraordinary celebration on October 31 at the Estragon in Bologna, "Halloween 2024", right on their birthday. On November 7, Tre Allegri Ragazzi Morti release "Garage Dub", the dub version of "Garage Pordenone" produced by Paolo Baldini DubFiles: the album is available exclusively on vinyl from November 7 at the "Tre Allegri Ragazzi Morti Expo" exhibition at PAFF! Palazzo del Fumetto in Pordenone, and from December 6 on all digital platforms. In December 2025, at the 28th edition of the Premio Ciampi, they receive two major honours: the "Piero Ciampi a Fumetti" award goes to Davide Toffolo, while Tre Allegri Ragazzi Morti are given the Premio Ciampi for lifetime achievement.