Medimex 2026: Pet Shop Boys, Suede, Slowdive

"Cause we were never being boring/ We had too much time to find for ourselves". The chorus of "Being Boring", one of the most beloved songs in the Pet Shop Boys concert in Taranto, could well be the mission statement of Medimex tout court. Never be boring, but keep raising the bar, always reaching for new challenges.
Promoted by Puglia Culture as part of the Puglia Sounds initiative, Medimex, a successful hybrid of festival and music conference, has reached its sixteenth edition, with an ever more solid identity. Even though a few eyebrows were initially raised back in March when the names of Pet Shop Boys and Suede were announced, the unquestionable proof of the stage proved the organizers right. Yet pigeonholing the duo of Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe as an Eighties act, and the band led by Brett Anderson as a Nineties one, would be a glaring miscalculation. The two headline shows at Medimex delivered a huge range of emotions, but never nostalgia.
Pet Shop Boys and Suede weren't booked by Cesare Veronico (artistic coordinator of Puglia Sounds and Medimex) for their glorious past, but for their ability to reinvent themselves and command a stage today. Despite having two very different, almost opposite frontmen, both English bands gave the Taranto crowd two shows that will linger long in the memory of this former capital of Magna Grecia.

Pet Shop Boys, evergreen synth-pop

But let's take things in order. Saturday night opened with the pulsing rhythms of Agents of Time, an electronic music duo made up of Bari natives Andrea Di Ceglie and Luigi Tutolo. Internationally known for their engrossing live shows and their melodic techno sound, Agents of Time had the Rotonda in Taranto dancing for a full hour, turning it into a homegrown Tomorrowland for the occasion.
At 10pm, Pet Shop Boys made their triumphant entrance, the most successful electro-pop duo in the history of British music. With over 50 million records sold worldwide and numerous Grammy and Brit Award wins, Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe could easily coast on their Eighties and Nineties hits alone. Instead, the English duo have kept releasing new music steadily, exploring sounds in step with contemporary taste. Think of the recent "Electric", "Super" and "Hotspot" trilogy, produced by Stuart Price, and the excellent recent album "Nonetheless", with James Ford at the controls.
The "Dreamworld – The Greatest Hits Live" show is a two-hour journey through time, split into three main sections, spanning 40 years of career. A spectacle that is at once futuristic and minimal, conceived as a genuine pop dramaturgy, with emotional peaks and scene changes calibrated down to the smallest detail. The opening sees Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe alone onstage, lit by two streetlamps, their faces covered by metallic tuning-fork-shaped masks: an aesthetic inspired by the retro-futurism of Kraftwerk. The performance of the classic "Suburbia" immediately lays out the duo's poetics, where the lightness of the synthesizers underpins lyrics about suburban violence.
The biting "Can You Forgive Her?", on the theme of sexual identity, the irony about capitalism in "Opportunities (Let's Make Lots of Money)" and the elegant disillusionment of "Rent", which mocks relationships of convenience, all demonstrate the artistic depth of their synth-pop.

The show shifts from a static performance into a dance arena when a crew of technicians, wearing hard hats and hi-vis vests, walks theatrically onstage to dismantle the opening set. A staging device that reveals the backing band behind the duo, with Bubba McCarthy on percussion, Clare Uchima on keyboards and backing vocals, and Simon Tellier as multi-instrumentalist. Neil Tennant, despite being nearly seventy-two (he turns 72 on July 10), still has a flawless voice, not far removed from his Eighties debut days. Proof of this comes in the thrilling medley "Where The Streets Have No Name/ Can't Take My Eyes Off You", one of the most gripping moments of the first part of the show, in which the singer mimics the iconography of "Singin' in the Rain", clinging to a lamppost. Taranto also gave an enthusiastic welcome to the classic "Left to My Own Devices", in which the electronic percussion interacts in real time with vividly colourful computer graphics, creating a striking visual effect, while the sunny medley of "Single-Bilingual" and "Se A Vida É", driven by Brazilian percussion, showed how brilliantly Pet Shop Boys can also converse with Latin sounds.

One of the most exhilarating moments of the night is the hit "Domino Dancing" which, despite being almost 40 years old, still feels remarkably fresh thanks to its clever blend of house grooves and Latin influences. The song was inspired by the "victory dance" of a friend of the singer's, after winning a game of dominoes in a cheap hotel in Saint Lucia. The inclusion of "Dancing Star", from the latest album "Nonetheless", an evocative tribute to Rudolf Nureyev, showed how the recent material can hold its own alongside the classics. This is confirmed too by the following "The Pop Kids", from the wonderful and underrated 2016 album "Super", and "A New Bohemia", one of the few ballads of the evening, also drawn from 2024's "Nonetheless".

"New York City Boy" proved to be one of the most beloved tracks from their late-Nineties output, while a roar greeted "Paninaro", the strongest link between Pet Shop Boys and Italy. An ode to Italy's luxury streetwear of the era, it's also the only song of the night sung by the impassive keyboardist Chris Lowe. On "Dreamland" and "What Have I Done to Deserve This", keyboardist Clare Uchima duets superbly with Neil Tennant, while "It's Alright" and "Vocal" are pure house energy.
As we head toward the finale, Pet Shop Boys play their four aces. The cover of "Go West", accompanied by historic footage of early gay pride marches in San Francisco, is one of the show's most moving and liberating moments. "It's A Sin" is a piece of dramatic yet irresistible hi-NRG, one that has lost none of its allure nor its meaning as a stand against prejudice. The red lighting, the images on screen and Tennant's intense delivery turned the song into a powerful artistic statement. The encore is the stuff of legend, with the homage to Eighties London of "West End Girls" and the bittersweet, biting irony of "Being Boring", written as AIDS was decimating the gay community. Few songs in pop history have managed to capture the passing of time, friendship and loss with such delicacy.

The Pet Shop Boys concert in Taranto was a masterclass in how to put together a "greatest hits" tour, with 27 songs from different eras all performed brilliantly. The English duo proved that visionary, timeless elegance is the only possible antidote to the tedium of a present all too often lacking in substance. At the end of the show, Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe received the 2026 Ernesto Assante Award, in memory of the late journalist and music critic who passed away in February 2024. The award, consisting of a plaque and a work of art, was presented to the English duo by Cesare Veronico, artistic director of Medimex, together with Antonio Decaro, President of the Puglia Region, and Paolo Ponzio, President of Puglia Culture.

A ferocious Sunday with Slowdive and Suede

Sunday, June 21st also lived up to expectations, and in the case of Suede, exceeded them. The evening opened with an energetic tribute to Ramones, one of the greatest punk bands of all time, courtesy of NYC Redux. An original Medimex production, curated by Marc Urselli, bringing together the best of the New York scene in one supergroup. Brian Chase (Yeah Yeah Yeahs), Sami Yaffa (Michael Monroe, Joan Jett), Steve Conte (New York Dolls), Kid Congo Powers (Cramps, Bad Seeds), Eugene Hutz (Gogol Bordello), Victoria Espinoza (Puzzled Panthers/Gogol Bordello), Tammy Faye Starlight, joined by Puglia native Enrico Petrelli (Malesangue), paid tribute to the legendary music club CBGB and, in particular, to the Ramones' debut album. A powerful, fast-paced live set, just like the American band's own shows, running through one legendary track after another: "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend", "I Wanna Be Sedated", "Pet Sematary", "Poison Heart" and "Blitzkrieg Bop".

A completely different atmosphere marked the show by English band Slowdive, an emblematic act of shoegaze and dream-pop. Often chosen by The Cure as their opening act, Slowdive enchanted the Taranto crowd with their intricate sonic textures, guitars drenched in reverb and delay, over which the stirring voices of Neil Halstead and Rachel Goswell floated. Tracks from the latest album "Everything Is Alive" blended seamlessly with the classics from the cult record "Souvlaki", while elegant, hypnotic psychedelic projections rolled across the backdrop.

The third concert of the Sunday bill is entrusted to Suede, who represent the most glam and theatrical side of the British britpop movement. The band's "second comeback" under the charismatic Brett Anderson in 2010 is one of the greatest rebirth stories in the history of pop-rock. While many of their peers would have been content to endlessly play their old Nineties hits, Suede have kept making new music that's just as strong, if not stronger, than their early albums. Indeed, looking at the five albums released since their return, from 2013's “Bloodsports” to last year's “Antidepressants”, not one of them falls short of their reputation.
The London band opened the show with “Disintegrate”, taken from their 2025 album “Antidepressants”, immediately showcasing the overwhelming energy of the ever-vital Anderson. A run of three fan favourites followed in quick succession, further electrifying the already fired-up crowd. 1996's “Trash”, 1993's “Animal Nitrate” and their debut single, 1992's “The Drowners”, are a triple ace that alone would be enough for an unforgettable show. The adrenaline keeps flowing unabated through “Personality Disorder”, until the evening's first twist arrives. The band, with the exception of keyboardist Neil Codling, leaves the stage while the frontman, already drenched in sweat, lies on the floor and delivers a stunning version of “The 2 Of Us”, showing off the vocal command of a seasoned crooner.

The party kicks back into gear with “Dancing With The Europeans”, a track built for a singalong, and also the title of the upcoming European tour dates. The setlist is a genuine emotional rollercoaster, constantly shifting in pace and intensity. “Filmstar”, taken from 1996's “Coming Up”, is still one of the most anticipated moments for Suede fans, while the hypnotic, moving “June Rain” confirmed the quality of their latest album “Antidepressants”.
The final trio of songs, “So Young”, “Metal Mickey” and “Beautiful Ones”, which sent the Rotonda in Taranto into raptures, is proof that Suede are, today, one of the best live bands around. If the band is a perfectly tuned rock machine, Brett Anderson is a phenomenal frontman, a perfect blend of Mick Jagger's primal energy and Bryan Ferry's dandy elegance. The singer gave everything he had for an hour and a half, constantly urging on the crowd, twirling the microphone à la Roger Daltrey, and repeatedly wading into the front rows for hugs and photos with disbelieving fans.

Le Strade del Mediterraneo

Alongside the headline shows, the performances at "Le Strade del Mediterraneo", the special world-music project curated by Antonio Diodato, also won great acclaim. The showcase, held at the Castello Aragonese in Taranto, featured a mix of the lyrical dream-pop of Naples' own Sara Gioielli, the electrified rai of Swiss-Moroccan artist Sami Galbi, and the percussive folk of Davide Ambrogio. The evocative Spazioporto venue hosted showcases by talented young Italian artists spanning jazz, world, urban and rock, as well as DJ sets from two heavyweights, Dj Reborn and Eugene Hutz.
Medimex drew huge turnout across the 65 events scheduled over five days, with a strong on-site audience alongside 1 million people reached and 4 million impressions on the festival's social media.
One of the festival's most anticipated moments is its photography exhibition, which this year featured a guest of the calibre of Roberta Bayley, the woman behind the cover of the Ramones' first, legendary album. The exhibition, titled “Roberta Bayley: The Ramones, CBGB's and New York City”, runs until 5 July 2026 at MArTA (the National Archaeological Museum of Taranto). It offers an extraordinary visual journey into the famous CBGB's club and New York's Lower East Side, telling the story of an entire subculture through the lens of one of its most important witnesses, who at the time worked the door of the iconic venue (where admission cost just $2). Before becoming a celebrated photographer, Roberta Bayley worked in London at the clothing shop run by Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne Westwood, the creators of the Sex Pistols. The artist told the press that her shot of Joey Ramone with a surfboard is by far her most popular and most requested photograph, while for the cover image of the Ramones' first album she was paid just $125. Bayley also recounted that once that extraordinary musical and social season had faded, she decided to put her camera away for good, since the authentic spirit of those years had by then burned out. The photographer described that period in New York as a unique, unrepeatable moment of total creative freedom, when musicians wanted to communicate something original and revolutionary.

"I'm glad that Medimex has once again bet on the great names of international music history as well as on young talent from Puglia, for whom this event must be an opportunity showing that the region wants to invest in their skills and their work," said Antonio Decaro, President of the Puglia Region. "Medimex will return to Taranto from 15 to 19 June 2027," added Paolo Ponzio, President of Puglia Culture. "This just-concluded edition has once again confirmed the event's deepest purpose: a strategic platform for the growth of Puglia's music industry and for its positioning on the wider national stage." "We are very pleased with the outcome of this extraordinary edition," says Cesare Veronico, Medimex/Puglia Sounds artistic coordinator. "Medimex continues to play out like a wonderful collective symphony, in which everyone who works on it, the artists, the guests and our audience, all contribute their own indispensable note." The city of Taranto, too often associated solely with the well-known Ilva (now ArcelorMittal) affair, has these past few days returned to the centre of the music world, showing its finest face, backed by a history spanning over 2,700 years. 

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