One Dimensional Man

A friendly derby divides Turin's followers of "noisy" rock on opposite sides of the city tonight: the American acts No Age and Abe Vigoda visiting Spazio 211, and, at the same time, the long-awaited return of our own One Dimensional Man at the Hiroshima.

And no offense to our American friends (or those at Spazio), but lacking the gift of ubiquity, we opted for the latter. A matter of the heart, not of nationality — which would in any case make little sense to invoke for a band that has always proudly stayed outside the so-called "Italian scene". Some of its historic members would later enter that scene in full, launching the Teatro degli Orrori project: that experience has brought in plenty of last-minute curious onlookers, swelling tonight's crowd of devotees.

After thoroughly revisiting the trio's entire catalogue — freshly reissued in a box set by the label La Tempesta — three questions are unavoidable: is Giulio Favero really the six-string noisemaker we remember? After all that declaiming, can Capovilla still handle the bass? And will the newest arrival, Luca Bottigliero (yes, the one who looks like Dave Grohl...), manage to keep us from missing the acrobatic nude antics of his illustrious predecessor Dario Perissutti? The answer is a triple yes: the impact is still as fierce as the records would have history remember, and the "rookie" is a locomotive. And we could just about end it there, at least as far as the first hour or so of the set goes: the tracks from You Kill Me, played in full, follow one another without pause or surprise, growing almost monotonous over time. Then with the encores the set becomes more varied and enjoyable: for "Broken Bones Waltz" and "Tell Me Marie" the frontman even finds time for a couple of socially charged monologues, on torture and violence against women. And here Capovilla, who up to that point had been a diligent musician and nothing more, suddenly reveals his "theatrical" side again: perhaps for the pleasure of self-quotation and a wink to the crowd. Or perhaps because that One Dimensional Man who debuted in the late '90s has, from the very start, concealed more dimensions than its name might suggest.

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