The shots of the Circus Maximus, at dawn May Day concert, they are distressing. Despite some diehards who even slept in the Roman arena to grab the most coveted seats for the 10-hour non-stop music marathon, turnout is at an all-time low. The heavy rain that has been falling on Rome since tonight certainly had an impact and made many people desist from taking part in the event, perhaps waiting for an improvement during the afternoon. But at 1.15pm, when Big Mama officially opened the union concert, there were very few people to cheer her on, a few hundred, for the first part dedicated to debutants. At 3.15pm the concert will come alive with Noemi and Ermal Meta conducting.
In addition to the poor presence of the public, the start of the Concertone was disturbed by serious technical problems which prevented the start of the show: equipment knocked out for the singers and great difficulties for Ermal Meta in the management. All attempts to start were useless: the flooded stage prevented any attempt to connect the equipment. Between the general stampede and the musicians trying to repair their instruments in the rain, Meta picked up the guitar and improvised a version of “Hallelujah“.
Soon after, the rain stopped cascading and the concert was able to start with Bloom, led by Giusy Ferreri.
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