CSI kick off again from Monte Sole: setlist and review of the reunion tour's opening date

by OndaRock Staff

29-08-2026

Twenty-five years later, the story of the CSI picks up again from the most symbolic place possible. Monte Sole, where a circle had closed on 29 June 2001, when Giovanni Lindo Ferretti, Gianni Maroccolo, Ginevra Di Marco, Francesco Magnelli and Giorgio Canali, without Massimo Zamboni, had come together for an evening in memory of Giuseppe Dossetti. It was the swan song of CSI and the birth of a new name, PGR (Per Grazia Ricevuta), which would not enjoy the same fortune as the previous two (CCCP and CSI). The recording of that historic concert would become, in 2003, “Montesole 29 giugno 2001“. Twenty-five years on, our heroes are here once again, under the glorious banner of the Consorzio Suonatori Indipendenti. And this time Zamboni is with them too.

The concert

The CSI concert, the opening date of the Emilian band's reunion tour, kicked off two shows at the LUPO Festival that sold out quickly: 5,000 attendees per night, 10,000 in total. Tickets cost around 40 euros.
The show began at 9:35 pm, after a delay caused by long queues at the entrance. It had been announced from the stage that the band would not start “until everyone is in”. Before the musicians came on, “Ma noi non ci saremo” was played in memory of Francesco Guccini, after which the setlist opened with “In viaggio”.

The stage, set up under a wooden structure next to the refuge, was stripped down to the essentials: a few lights, amplifiers, no big screens or special effects. The view, however, was limited for part of the audience by the low height of the platform and the slope of the field. The musicians were arranged in a single line, with no clear divide between Ferretti and the rest of the band; Ferretti stayed seated at the center for almost the entire concert.
The set moved through classic tracks from the Consorzio's catalogue such as “Occidente”, “Del mondo”, “A tratti”, “Inquieto”, “Cupe vampe”, “Linea gotica”, “Irata”, “Esco”, “Bolormaa ci”, “Blu”, “Forma e sostanza” (the single that actually drove “Electrified tabula rasa“, the Consorzio's last album, to number 1 on the charts), “Ongii”, “Unità di produzione” and “Depressione Caspica”. Giovanni Lindo Ferretti chose not to introduce the songs with comments on current events, letting the songs themselves resonate in the site of the Nazi massacre at Marzabotto, where between September 29 and October 5, 1944, at least 770 people, mostly civilians, were slaughtered.

Among the most moving moments was the celebrated cover of “E ti vengo a cercare” by Franco Battiato, which had been included on the 1996 masterpiece “Linea gotica”. Ferretti and Di Marco performed it together from start to finish, in a version that pulled the song into CSI's darker, more expansive sound; in the finale, only Di Marco's voice remained on the line “Perché ho bisogno della tua presenza”, followed by a long round of applause.
To someone in the crowd asking him to stand up, Ferretti replied in his own inimitable way: “Dear kids, it's not easy being on the CSI stage, so if I can manage it, I'll stay seated. It's a good way to get back close to this stage.” At the end of the main set, before the encores, he added: “Your expectations are sky-high, but you'll have to take what you get!”

The encores also brought “Danza”, “Montesole”, “Matrilineare” and “M’importa ‘na sega”, before closing with “Buon anno ragazzi” at 11:55 pm, after two hours and twenty minutes of music. The last line, “nessuna garanzia per nessuno”, was left looping as the musicians walked off stage.
After the concert, social media saw some criticism of technical aspects of the show, from problems with the amplification of Di Marco's voice and the excessive volume of Canali's guitars, to a few minor vocal hiccups from Ferretti. We'll see whether the Consorzio's machine gets fine-tuned over the coming dates. But the die is now cast. The circle has reopened where it once closed: CSI set off again from Monte Sole for a tour that, after tonight's encore date in Marzabotto, will take them On the Road to the following stops: 31 August Villafranca (Verona), 2 September Fasano (Brindisi), 4 September Spello (Perugia), 8 September Alba (Cuneo), 12 September Catania.

The setlist

Noi non ci saremo (Francesco Guccini) – Intro

In viaggio
Occidente
Del mondo
A tratti
Inquieto
Cupe vampe
Linea gotica
Irata
Esco
Bolormaa
Blu
Forma e sostanza
Brace
Ongii
Unità di produzione
Depressione caspica
E ti vengo a cercare (Franco Battiato)
Fuochi nella notte
Montesole
Matrilineare
M’importa ‘na sega
Buon anno ragazzi