The last concert

It was his last concert. And it left a trail of controversy that would last for days. Mostly senseless controversy. Because on that 13th of August 1998, on stage at Roccella Jonica, in Calabria, Fabrizio De André was simply doing what he always did: throwing out one of his provocations. It was the summer tour for “Mi innamoravo di tutto,” and that date, staged within the setting of the Castello dei Carafa, would go down as his final live performance: Faber, in fact, would soon be forced to stop performing due to his illness, and he would pass away just over a year later, on 11 January 1999.

During the evening, in front of more than two thousand spectators, De André also collected the award for “Best Live Songwriter of the Year.” On stage he alternated his songs with sharp, ironic remarks, once again restating his political views. After an opening run of songs, he brought up current affairs, from immigrants to illegal squatting, right through to direct attacks on institutional figures. The audience followed along, engaged, applauding. Then the talk turned to organized crime, in a region marked by the presence of the 'Ndrangheta. It was in that context that De André spoke the words that would spark immediate reactions and, above all, controversy in the days that followed: “If these expressions of organized crime didn't exist in the southern regions, unemployment would probably be much higher. The unemployment rate would be at least 10% higher without the three mafia organizations.” And then, in an even more direct and provocative tone, addressing those who were criticizing him: “It's paradoxical to have to admit it,” he said, “but if organized criminal structures didn't exist, unemployment might reach 25 percent.”

A tense silence fell over the crowd, broken only in part by applause. “Aren't you afraid you're exaggerating?” one unsettled spectator asked him. And De André shot back: “Like hell I'm exaggerating,” he replied — he, of all people, who had had his own run-in with (Sardinian) crime, when he was kidnapped along with his partner Dori Ghezzi.

If the immediate effect was one of bewilderment, the media reaction the following day was far more intense. His statements were picked up by the press and TV news, sparking a debate that drew in politicians and unions. The Cisl's regional secretary, Enzo Damiano, called those words “disturbing,” the Uil's Pietro Larizza told him to “stick to his little songs,” while the mayor of Roccella Jonica, Giuseppe Certomà, reiterated that “only legality and democracy bring development and jobs.” Some figures from the entertainment world also weighed in critically on the affair, including Renzo Arbore.

There was even talk of a possible criminal complaint for incitement to commit crimes. A paradoxical situation for a man who had always spoken out against wrongdoing, and who had brilliantly captured the ties between organized crime and power in his famous “Don Raffae',” partly inspired by the figure of boss Raffaele Cutolo, founder of the Nuova Camorra Organizzata.

And yet, according to those close to him, Fabrizio De André never took anything back: those statements reflected a position he saw as consistent over time, one shaped also by his own direct experiences with crime. In the days that followed, speaking out to clarify what he'd meant, he explained the provocative nature of those words: “It was one of my usual provocations,” he explained in an interview with Carlo Macrì of Corriere della Sera. “What I meant was that, paradoxically, organized crime lowers the unemployment rate. Actually, alongside the more visible criminal organizations, I'd also include what I call 'spa/ad,' meaning 'Corporations for Committing Crimes' — the ones with all sorts of seemingly legitimate activities that hide shady dealings nobody has ever bothered to investigate. Without those, we'd probably be looking at unemployment as high as fifty percent. In short, the underground economy and illegal activity are, on the one hand, our tragedy, and on the other, they somehow ease the unemployment problem. That should make us reflect on the absence of the State in certain areas.”

In short, through one of his trademark exaggerations, De André had once again gone too far, and everyone, to paraphrase Ruggeri, took him literally and got the response all wrong.

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23/04/2026