Hi guys,
I let 24 hours pass by just to chill out a little bit and try not to be over-enthusiastic but... that show was awesome! Here the story goes:
I had just picked up Gloria at the nearest tube station and we were approaching the venue when a black van pulled over just in front of my car and Louis stormed out! He was fascinated by the tree-shaded tramway rails in the setting sun (I know this sounds like a JF line) and had the urge to photograph them – maybe he also wanted to take a good look at the San Siro stadium in the distance... John and some other people I didn’t (yet) know came out of the van too. I approached them, introduced myself to John and immediately spilled my beans confessing that I was the one who caused the cancellation of the shows scheduled for last December by putting the infamous poster photo online. I was so relieved when John told me I didn’t need to apologize and actually thanked me as I had done a great favour to all of them!
Louis came back and we all reached the venue where John was to be interviewed at length by a very knowledgeable local journalist – I exchanged contacts with him and I will let you know when it will be published.
Funnily enough, probably because I arrived together with the crew, I was admitted inside the venue well before the official opening time while the Rubicks were soundchecking and I was generally regarded by the venue managers as part of John and Louis’ entourage. Several Italian people actually addressed me in English! Inside the venue I found Louis desperately seeking a couple of batteries for his camera; luckily I had a spare set of Duracells and I was happy to lend them to him – he was overjoyed, kissed me(!) and also managed to pull a little prank on Roger by answering to his call on my mobile. Very funny guy, full of energy – we talked a lot about music and synthesizers and he’s really passionate.
Later, after buying the obligatory T-shirt, I met the great Chris Curran – I could have stayed hours listening to his anecdotes about John, Midge and Gary Numan and he really made me laugh with a funny line about Bob Geldof (sorry I can’t write it here because we will probably both get sued to death). He also let me take a photo of the set list – I tried to shoot it without looking at it because I didn’t want to be spoilt, but I couldn’t help but notice that “Endlessly” would be the closing track and my heart skipped several beats.
After the interview John and Louis went off to change into their stage outfits and came back escorted by Steve Malins. John introduced me to him and I was delighted to have the opportunity to chat a little with him about his books – I tried as hard as I could to convince him to write a JF biography...
Time for music! The first support band, Act Noir, played something resembling the darker side of Depeche Mode – not bad at all, though maybe they could have spared us a bit of over-detached attitude. Intriguing atmospheres, though.
I’m sorry I didn’t get much of the Rubicks show – I was too busy chatting with Chris and mingling with other JF fans.
John and Louis did a wonderful work. Overall volume was a little too weak during the intro and “A million cars” was not received as it should have been, probably because most of the Italian fans haven’t had yet the chance to listen to it. The Metamatic tracks had the crowd hooraying and standing in awe and admiration. During “Underpass” some people started to dance but the real breaker was “Crash and Burn” – everyone was dancing at that point, while Louis shouted his “lethal mechanical” backing vocals.
John looked very excited and he sang wonderful and passionate versions of his quietest songs – “Hiroshima mon amour” and “Just for a Moment”. Another burst of energy with “No one driving” and then the marvellous “My Sex” reworking we all know and love. “Endlessly” was a very welcome encore. John and Louis parted with the audience in Italian with “Grazie” and “Ciao”.
We were treated to a carefully chosen set list, consisting most of classics, tailored for an audience who has limited access to John’s latest work – BTW I had the impression that “From Trash” and “Sideways” CDs were selling like peanuts: good!
After the concert and a much needed break, John came out evidently satisfied and tirelessly signed everything his loyal Italian fans wished to have autographed, answered every single possible question, agreed to have pictures taken with him and in general he was calm, majestic and polite as usual.
In summary, a great time and a very warm welcome for John and Louis. For those of you who endured to read my broken English prose so far, I’ll add a little rumour I picked up: someone is working to have “Cathedral Oceans” performed during the summer in Italy. Will it happen? I can only hope.
Sorry for the long post, hope some of you will enjoy it.
Ciao,
Luca
