La Notte Rosa (Pink Night) is an annual summer event in Emilia Romagna that began in 2007 and seems to get bigger every year.

All the major towns along 110 km of the Riviera Adriatic coast go pink for the occasion and many revellers dress accordingly. The colour is supposed to signify a spirit of hospitality and openness. It also means that you are likely to encounter the rare, and sartorially challenged, sight of grown heterosexual Italian males wearing pink trilbies and trousers!

The commercial motives for this initiative are obvious and most shop owners are more than happy to enter into the party spirit and stay open throughout the night. Fortunately, there are also a healthy number of free events so that it isn’t just an excuse for festive consumerism.

Cesenatico was probably the most chaotic place to be with a Radio Bruno Estate concert featuring a selection popular singers and TV entertainers strutting their stuff. I was happy to leave my daughter to contend with the hordes and head a short distance along the coast for the relative calm of Cervia.

The main attraction there, was a free open air concert by Transglobal Underground (TGU). I knew this band only by reputation and this was the first time I’ve had the chance to see them live.

TGU have a fluctuating cast of members but tonight they numbered six. They come from all over but who are based in, and draw inspiration from, the cultural melting pot of London.

Language and genre barriers mean very little as they fuse together a range of Eastern and Western styles including hip-hop, reggae, funk Bollywood, electro-dance, Indian and Arabic. After 20 years the thrill of working all these elements into the mix remains alive.

Tuup, on voice and percussion, is the MC but it is the ensemble playing that is their strength. A additional star attraction for this show was, however, the queenly Natacha Atlas whose sublime voice and regal stage presence took things onto a higher plain.
Although initially she looked a little aloof by the side of the other musicians, her sense of fun shone through by the end. A humorous vocal dialogue between her and Tuup was one of the show’s highlights, as was her total reworking of You Put A Spell On Me.

The two other female stars of the night were Sheema Mukherjee on sitar/bass and singer/dancer Krupa.

With all the multicultural ingredients in the mix, it was perhaps a little ironic that it was the latter’s rendition of Michael Jackson’s disco classic ‘Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough’ half way through the show to get the audience up and dancing. After this, the band could do no wrong and  were visibly relieved to see that their infectious beats were having the desired effect.

Krupa shone gloriously for this part of the show. With the grace and sexiness of a youthful Audrey Hepburn she sang and danced her heart out, showing off some extremely nifty moves. Probably, Natacha Atlas in her younger belly dancing days had a similar impact but now in her 40s she has to conserve her energy these days.

Frankly, many of their TGU’s actual songs are pretty weak but the amalgamation of tight rhythms, thumping percussion and infectious enthusiasm more than made up for this.

On the way back to the car park a stand was giving away hot peach punch. You can sign me up for the pink night 2012!