Tag Archive: Ferrara Sotto le Stelle


SIGUR RÓS: HOT UNDER THE STARS

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July 27, 2013

SIGUR RÓS live at Castello Estense – Ferrara Sotto le Stelle – July 26th 2013

Jonsì may not have been anticipating a heatwave but he is a man who is prepared for all weather conditions.

Jónsi may not have been anticipating a heatwave but he is a man who is prepared for all weather conditions.

On the drive to this show my dashboard display showed the temperatures on the motorway  to be around 35°C.  It was just as sweltering in the city centre for the closing concert of the Ferrara Sotto Le Stelle season.

Italians are usually in their element in hot weather but being packed into the outdoor concert venue in such conditions, even they looked sweaty and uncomfortable.  The impressive Castello Estense  makes for a magical setting for this most magical of groups but there is no escaping the fact that tonight it is fucking hot!

Jónsi and band were not brought up playing in heatwaves. On stage, sprays of cool mist help them survive the climatic challenge while we punters have to literally sweat it out for two hours. It is more than worth the minor discomfort for the privilege of seeing and hearing music as majestic and entrancing as theirs. Continue reading →

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RADIOHEAD FAKE QUAKE FEARS

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June 12, 2012

Piazza Maggiore, Bologna

There was an announcement today that “due to the recent earthquakes in the area”, the venue for Radiohead’s show in Bologna on 3rd July has changed from the Piazza Maggiore in the city centre to Parco Nord in the suburbs.

The reaction to this news by ticket holders is a combination of disbelief and anger.

The threat of more earthquakes seems like a convenient excuse to avoid the major security + health & safety hazards associated with holding such a big show in a relatively small space.

As many have pointed out, forthcoming shows  in July by Bon Iver and Paul Weller in Ferrara, a city also affected by the quakes, have not been cancelled or relocated.

Also a large Gay Pride march in Bologna on 9th June went ahead as planned and open air film screenings on 23-30th June are still scheduled to take place in the same Piazza where the Radiohead gig was to have been held.

More tickets are now available for those wanting to see Thom Yorke & Co in a less scenic location which is better news for the concert promoters than for the fans.

I won’t be applying.

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UNDER THE STARS WITH POLLY JEAN

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July 7, 2011

Pj Harvey at Ferrara

Polly Jean Harvey‘s long-awaited show as part of Ferrara’s annual ‘Sotto le Stelle’ (under the stars) summer season of outdoor concerts is her only date in Italy this year. I was there to swoon and croon (sotto voce!).

The last time I saw her in concert was in 1992 as support to Family Cat in a small club in Camden Town just before the release of her debut album, Dry. Then she was shy yet assertive and while she still has the same self-contained detachment all these years on she has matured into an assured and charismatic performer. She has a real stage presence and has developed this cool way of starting some songs from the back of the stage and then walking slowly forward to the microphone.

She is still a woman of few words and speaks only at the end to introduce her three-man band and to say “Thank you for listening”.

Why should we care as the music speaks volumes and she really inhabits her songs. And what songs! Her last album, Let England Shake, already has the status of a modern classic so it was a privilege to hear all the tracks played live (for good measure she also threw in the b-side The Big Guns Called Me Back Again)

Some, like On Battleship Hill and Written on the Forehead, sounded even better live although The Colour of the Earth, with Mick Harvey (no relation) on vocals, still sounds like the weakest track and makes a lame song to close with.

England (the song) also died a death due to a lousy sound system with rumbling bass notes which plagued the whole show . PJ and band definitely need a better team of technicians; the two guys who tuned the instruments looked like zombies and tried to look purposeful with their gaffer tape but gave the impression they were just pretending to know what they were doing. If Polly was frustrated by these problems, she didn’t show it; she was a model of calmness and serenity throughout. Continue reading →

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