Rock Contest - Controradio

The twenty-sixth consecutive edition of the Rock Contest, organized as ever with skill and passion by the folks at Controradio, has crowned a hometown band: Beyond the Garden.

That's the verdict from the evening held last Saturday at the Auditorium Flog in Florence, the traditional setting for the grand final of the most important competition for emerging artists in the country. Six hundred demos arrived on the banks of the Arno this year, thirty-six bands fought it out in the elimination rounds, and only six made it to the final stage.

A prestigious achievement in itself, all the more so this year given the string of "big names" swelling the ranks of the industry-insider jury: the leader of Afterhours Manuel Agnelli, who took on the role of jury president, Piero Pelù, whose presence was a welcome last-minute surprise, and finally Max Collini of Offlaga Disco Pax, who right here ten years ago won a victory that proved a sweet omen of a brilliant career to come.

The evening kicked off with the pop-rock sounds of Lo Straniero, a Piedmontese outfit who made their mark with intelligent songs sung in Italian. A fine act we'll surely hear more from in the not-too-distant future. Second on stage were none other than Beyond the Garden, a very young Florentine band serving up indie-rock in tune with the times, capable of warming up the packed house and closing their set with drums echoing the kit out in the middle of the crowd.

Next up were the three lads from Mantua, Plastic Light Factory, also very young and clearly struck by the psych-rock lightning of Toy and the like. Noisy and lysergic, they would go on to finish in second place.

An absolute novelty on the Rock Contest airwaves was the rap of the talented Mefa, just 15 years old but with grit to spare and the stage presence of a veteran: his hip-hop stuck out like a UFO in the context of the evening, but this kid has real talent and very clear ideas, and if we had to bet a cent on the future of Italian rap, we'd put it on him.

Second to last on stage was El Xicano, a singer-songwriter from Romagna who, with keyboards and voice, brought to life a handful of minimal tracks straddling tradition and experimental flair. Promoted.

Finally, the Salento band Maria Brunetta, purveyors of a rock-soul steeped in funk rhythms: they would go on to take third place.

This year's Rock Contest also saw the awarding of the "Ernesto De Pascale" prize for best song in Italian. A video message from Cristina Donà named Lefebo the winners. The evening continued with an energetic live set from …A Toys Orchestra, the night's special guests. The songs from their new album "Butterfly Effect" proved to be an absolute blast live as well, confirming the Neapolitan outfit as one of the most important acts to emerge from the current Italian independent scene.

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