Franco Battiato

Granted, this was my first Franco Battiato concert, but I have to say that my astonishment was matched by that of even his most devoted fans: nobody expected such a rock-oriented performance.

The first date of the tour following “Dieci stratagemmi,” Alcatraz, everyone on their feet: certainly a different setting than you'd expect for a concert by a singer-songwriter like Battiato, who shows up smiling, dressed very casually (perhaps too casually!) and opens the show by reading a Shakespeare poem, “Come away death,” set to 19th-century music performed on piano.

It's the only calm moment of the concert, because when "Tra sesso e castità" kicks in, the curtain opens and the white sheet hiding the musicians (the FSC's very young backing band) drops, the atmosphere changes and a series of full-throttle songs begins ("Ermeneutica", and "Strani giorni" in particular). Battiato even improvises a few dance steps, smiles, lets loose: you can forgive him a few uncertain moments, which in truth will continue throughout the evening, especially from Kumi C. Watanabe, who accompanies him on vocals on some songs — but it's the opening date, and perhaps there's still a bit of breaking-in to be done.

"Via Lattea" is the first surprise of the setlist: Battiato himself says he hasn't performed it in at least twenty years, while on "La porta dello spavento supremo" Manlio Sgalambro, absent due to a high fever, appears in a filmed contribution, "duetting" with Battiato via playback.

Truly vicious (I know, you might think I'm exaggerating, but I'm not) are "Shock in my town" and especially "Sarcofagia", which turns into an almost metal track, though there's no shortage of more relaxed numbers like the now-classic "La cura" and "La stagione dell'amore".

The first part of the concert closes with two hits from "La voce del padrone", belted out at the top of their lungs by the audience, to whom Battiato repeatedly holds out the microphone. The first encore is "Meccanica", the evening's other huge surprise, a track from "Fetus", his debut album, now a good 35 (!) years old, and in performing it he doesn't shy away from playing the synth, just like in those now-prehistoric days of experimentation — as he'd already done earlier in the set with "Areknames", the historic track from "Pollution".

The concert closes with a second encore that, as tradition dictates, includes a medley of almost every track from "La voce del padrone": here too, great enthusiasm, both from the audience and from Battiato, who seems to be enjoying himself more than anyone.

In short, a tour that, given the large audience it will reach, sets aside the boldest experiments, the more classical pieces and the ethnic contaminations, in favor of unleashing nearly thirty of the best-known and most singable songs, reworked with a modern, youthful sound. Battiato is sixty years old, and it doesn't show at all: the bite and freshness of the performances, across the two-hour concert, have nothing to envy in any Italian band of the new wave, and they have what it takes to please everyone, from day-one fans to younger listeners — and it's no coincidence that the majority of the audience was made up of young people, a rare thing for a singer-songwriter with a career spanning almost forty years.

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