Afterhours

What are Afterhours today? A band in constant, unstoppable evolution, adored to exhaustion by its fans and despised in equal measure by its detractors, yet always utterly reliable and solid on stage. Yes, all well-known traits to anyone familiar with them, but today they've become something more: a genuine musical institution, with an extraordinary back catalogue, delivered by a line-up that no one would object to calling the best they've ever had.

They've been absent from Rome for just over a year and a half (the last time was in January 2015, for a theatre tour), yet it feels like much longer. In between there's been the settling-in period for the two new arrivals (the presence of Fabio Rondanini and Stefano Pilia now makes Afterhours something of an all-star band), and above all the release of a dense, dark, intensely powerful album that, let's be honest, really works (the best of the last three, to use the words Roberto Dell'Era used at the presentation in Feltrinelli last month): "Folfiri o Folfox".

The painful memories tying Manuel Agnelli to his father, who recently passed away from an incurable illness, run through a show that strongly welds the new material to an effective selection of historic tracks, even though the choice gets harder with each passing year: for every new Afterhours release, old warhorses have to be sacrificed. It's the price to pay in exchange for new albums that are, nonetheless, consistently solid.

It's precisely the older songs that shake the audience the most, in particular "Male di miele" (followed by the devastating instrumental "Cetuximab", capturing the set's most abrasive moment), which remains the band's true anthem. But the first cathartic roar had already gone up with "Ballad for My Little Hyena", the first "old" track played tonight.

Among the new songs, "Non voglio ritrovare il tuo nome" is already being hailed as a classic, "L'odore della giacca di mio padre" is overwhelmingly moving, "Fra i non viventi vivremo noi" delivers a nice jolt of energy, and "Né pani né pesci" shows off some interesting guitar work, with Pilia (much more "present" than the understated Giorgio Ciccarelli) perfectly complementing the leading role of Xabier Iriondo, today smilier than usual. Among the more well-worn tracks, the explosive "Bungee Jumping" deserves a mention, but the set never has a dull moment, flying by right up to the closing "Se io fossi il giudice".

The band comes across as tight, Rodrigo D'Erasmo is a monster of talent, and Manuel gives him particular visibility, letting him take position at the highest point of the stage. Roberto Dell'Era is as flamboyant and effective as ever, Agnelli's voice is perhaps a little under par, but his presence, full of magnetism, confirms him as the sole leader, legitimizing him as captain of the ship — a ship that at times looks like a comfortable backing band ready to support him come what may.

Two minutes' pause and everyone's back out for the encores, which see the frenetic "La verità che ricordavo" go by, a "Riprendere Berlino" that could perhaps have been skipped (it will be the only pick from "The Milanese kill off Saturday night"), the tribute to the kids with the banner sheet reading "Facce Strategggie", which never fails to show up in Rome, a hidden gem rediscovered for this tour ("Pop") and the massive hit "Non è per sempre".

But it's not over yet. There's a second encore, planned to be a little more substantial than usual for the Capital, lining up the masterpiece "Quello che non c'è", the well-rounded "Bianca", the unplanned (since it hadn't been played on previous dates) "Voglio una pelle splendida" and the farewell of "Bye Bye Bombay".

In the end it will be two and a quarter hours of music, and the comments at the end of the show are almost universally positive, both for the quality of the songs and for how good some of the new arrangements are.

Then an after show at Angelo Mai, the Afterhours' Roman home, to carry on until morning and hand out hugs and a few words to the Roman fans, who once again proved red-hot towards a band that, we're certain, will soon be back on the banks of the Tiber: the tour for "Folfiri o Folfox" has only just begun…

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