Finale Rock Contest

In front of a huge crowd of over 1200 spectators, Blue Popsicle triumphed in the final of the Rock Contest, the most important competition in the country for emerging bands. In the closing event of the event, held on Saturday 10 December at the Flog in Florence, the young Florentine band overcame the resistance of the other five bands still in the running, at the end of a high-intensity evening also fueled by the passionate participation of the crowd.

Blue Popsicle are five guys just past twenty, tackling one of the most crowded genres of recent times, what we might call garage Britpop. The models to follow, by their own admission, are Kooks and Arctic Monkeys. Nothing new under the sun, you might say. But it takes only a few seconds from the start of the show for the scene to be captured by the presence and magnetic movements of Filippo Santini, the band's true leader and frontman. His winning, theatrical rock-star poses heighten the energy of songs that in any case have all the hallmarks of the genre. It's impossible to remain indifferent to the band's performance, which surprises and convinces; the final sonic vibrations come from "Some Kind Of Creep", where Santini's raspy, warm voice leads us into a catchy, contagious chorus.

Before Blue Popsicle, the stage had been taken by Violacida, a band drawing inspiration from the punk singer-songwriter style of Le Luci della Centrale Elettrica and Zen Circus, as well as the eternal Rino Gaetano. They show a certain maturity in their lyrics, but the reference to now well-known styles and sounds at times becomes so blatant that it depersonalizes the songs, highlighting a contrast between message and author — in this case one lacking the necessary stage presence, which makes it hard to feel any emotional connection to the songs on offer. Then again, it's a well-known fact: writing lyrics in Italian remains one of the toughest tasks, especially for young bands searching for a difficult balance between the past, their influences and their own individuality. In cases like this, the suggestion might be to develop themes felt more sincerely and simply, along with an expressive style that follows naturally from them.

After the post-rock of instrumental trio The Autumn Leaves Fall In, it's the turn of Geometra Mangoni, who finished third overall and won, with "Domani", the "Ernesto De Pascale" award for best song in Italian (jury chaired by Dario Brunori). Maurizio Mangoni presents a substantial project, small electronic and intimate vignettes with an appreciable and effective Italian vocal delivery, although the live setting probably doesn't fully do justice to the potential of such densely atmospheric music.

Next up are the cheeky, irreverent 3chevedonoilrE and, last on stage, Sunday Sheebs, average age sixteen, the youngest band ever to place second in the history of the contest. They put on a show that amazes for its technical command, giving new life and shine to classic 70s genres by blending progressive, hardcore and jazz. The group, led by a singer with excellent vocal skills despite his very young age, performs long suites that thrill the crowd, taking the quartet to within a step of victory.

After the competing bands, the evening's guest performers took the stage: The Hacienda, one of the bands to have broken through in recent years alongside Offlaga Disco Pax and Samuel Katarro. Finally comes the long-awaited announcement of the final result: Blue Popsicle can celebrate their win in the competition organized by Controradio.

Once the celebrations are over, it will once again be up to them to turn a prestigious victory into a launchpad for the definitive recognition of their talent.

(27/12/2011)

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