Balmorhea

Balmorhea landed in Italy to promote their third album, "All Is Wild, All Is Silent", already enjoying a fair amount of success, following the well-deserved tribute paid to them last year by critics and fans alike for "River Arms". A simple tour, almost (deliberately) understated, with only two Italian dates, this one in Carpi and another in the province of Rimini, far removed then from the traditionally hotter venues and city squares.

The choice may have done little to boost their fame, sowing disappointment instead among the band's many admirers, who are not in short supply even in Italy. And yet for those who, like the undersigned, have had the good fortune to admire them live, the choices made by the odd couple Rob Lowe & Michael Muller can only seem perfectly sensible and – even more so – fitting for the characters in question.

The venue for the Carpi show is little more than a disco-pub, tastefully furnished nonetheless, with a deep barrel vault lined in dark slats that almost recalls the upturned keel of a ship, and the stage, a tiny stage, placed at the back of the room, far from the entrance and the bar counter located nearby. This setup, very simple and with a vibe as familiar as it is genuinely vintage, would be perfectly suited to hosting a small ensemble like our Balmorhea, if only the stage weren't so cramped for the band – here at full strength, in a six-piece lineup with strings and drums, and thus forced into near-immobility during the performance – and if only a good portion of the pub's patrons, who had turned up more for a night out than for the music, didn't insist on chatting loudly even during the liveliest moments of the show. A situation that, as we'll later find out when talking with the band's Rob Lowe, bothers the audience in attendance more than it does the musicians themselves: according to him, the indifference of part of the crowd, the cause of the rather annoying chatter, is an almost widespread occurrence, one they've personally encountered in numerous venues across the United States, to the point where it no longer bothers them.

The fact remains that the concert is scheduled for the late hour of 11pm and, despite this, we'll have to wait at least another three quarters of an hour, and the arrival of new patrons, before seeing the little stage fill up with men, women (the petite Black violinist and the phlegmatic, hooded cellist) and instruments, but the wait is soon rewarded: the band launches straight into the flowing acoustic arpeggio of the two guitars on "Coahuila", and the magic already begins to take shape.

There's no wasted energy in the band's composed performance, just as there's nothing superfluous in their musical approach; there's rather restraint, a desire to express their own ideas in a delicately human way, and on evenings like this there's a palpable eagerness to channel their output into contact with their audience, and it comes through from the very first notes, strong, the sense of intensity and warm emotional involvement of all six on stage, who have traveled here from far-off Texas; from the very first track, and then even more so in the performances that follow, from the already celebrated "San Solomon" that comes next (the only track from last year's album), through all the crowd favorites drawn from their latest work ("Settler", "Remembrance", "Harm and Boon", ending with the wonderful "Night in the Draw").

What stands out above all is the composure of these broad-shouldered guys with faces as clean as children's, faces of people who have already learned to gauge their professionalism as musicians even in half-forgotten places like this one tonight, yet equally capable of achieving that miraculous human connection with their small crowd. The same people, perhaps, with whom contact has been kept for months via the information superhighway, and who knows if you'd recognize them live, here, in this wide, flat Po Valley, light years away from the dusty expanses of the American South-West, and yet a sufficient and thoroughly worthy stopover, today, to refuel on strong emotions and feelings.

Harmony with Balmorhea isn't found in intoxication or rapture, there's no fury or melodic excess, after all this is neither hardcore nor classical music, it's rather a mere backdrop to the correspondence of the senses, and the chords and arpeggios become a pretext for recalling memories, which a moment later will herald the next emotion and feed a new sense of anticipation.

Musically the concert flows by like a cheerful mountain spring, without jolts, but with wonderful naturalness, a crystalline execution on the instruments, yet with a devastating impact on a human level: it doesn't deliver images of places, nor postcards, but rather humanity, and so much, so much tenderness.

That said, one also can't overlook the ease with which the odd couple of Rob & Michael (who, seen side by side, would seem more like a comedy duo than the founders of this superbly chosen band: they almost resemble each other in their plain gaze yet differ in temperament, Rob more cheerful, Michael more stubbornly rustic) move between instruments, swapping places on guitars, electric piano, banjo and harmonica with pianola; not to mention, finally, the vocalizations on numerous tracks in the set, performed in this live show with surprising success by Rob, standing in for the voice of Jesy Fortino, who instead appears on the studio-recorded tracks.

And everything quickly passes by around these captivating moments of intimacy: the assertive handclapping of "Settler", marked out solo by Michael with only light support from the snare, comes across as lukewarm and subdued, and once again gives way to the sublime grace of the string trio, before turning finally to the closing surprise, a gentle sextet of a cappella voices, with the band gathered in a circle at the center of a stage too cramped to hold them all, yet spacious enough to convey their sincere musical spirit, for a final farewell, itself heartfelt, pure and overflowing with grace.

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