Venerus

I'd like to start from the end of the concert, from the semi-transparent curtain that serves as a backdrop, onto which images are projected several times during the set. Venerus and his band have just finished playing "Fra le tue braccia", the new instant classic recorded as a duet with Cosmo. The group leaves the stage and Andrea Venerus remains alone, sitting at the piano, hands on the keys, while images of a collective embrace scroll across the curtain. That's what this concert is all about: the warmth of an embrace, of a sound that forms a comforting shell, able to caress the listener while also pleasantly surprising them with unexpected turns.

Venerus's set has changed since the days of "Magica Musica": back then he was very skilled at making up for his still-limited catalogue of songs, stretching them out in live renditions that took the shape of enjoyable, vividly colored and unpredictable psychedelic jams. Today Andrea presents himself as the leader of a leaner rock band, doing away with horns and the fluidity of his early work in favor of an effective simplicity. His songs now mirror the tight runtimes of the studio versions, as if Venerus had decided, in this phase, to "strip down" his music. Songs that make you dance and cry, that entertain and move you, letting themselves be shaped by the poetics of one of the most sensitive and inspired songwriters of his generation - today's thirty-somethings (or thereabouts) who have chosen not to settle for the easy lure of it-pop, instead trying to stand out as voices outside the mainstream, devoting themselves to exploration and experimentation, and leaning on visionary collaborations (see MACE) to shape a personal sound.

With three albums under his belt and a much richer setlist, the show today feels, so to speak, "normalized", less surprising, but without losing an ounce of personality, thanks to songwriting of real quality. The backbone of the setlist obviously centers on the songs from his most recent record, "Speriamo", released last November, though there's no shortage of nods to his earlier work. A show enriched by the presence of a welcome guest, Gemitaiz, who joins Venerus on three songs: "Un giorno triste", "Buyo" and "Senza di te", a classic from the Roman rapper.

The concert opens with a dedication to his motorcycle, to which Andrea is deeply attached, and the first part closes on the notes of "Il tuo cane", one of his finest compositions, with the guitar taking on almost shoegaze contours. A section of four songs follows, during which Venerus stays on stage alone, just piano and voice, before the whole band returns for the closing stretch, kicked off by one of his most beloved tracks, "Sei acqua".

Venerus proves to be at his best when he goes all in on intensity, building cerebral verses followed by killer, retro-flavored choruses. His eclecticism allows him to excel both when he opts for minimal atmospheres ("Istruzioni") and when he crafts sparkling tracks that feel like potential summer hits. That's the case with "Sola", a snapshot of a girl spotted on a dance floor, expressing her choices of freedom and independence purely through the movement of her body. Throughout the show, Venerus displays his many artistic facets, all of them convincing and effective, confirming his place among the small circle of the most prolific and interesting Italian artists of this decade.

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