“The kids experience maturity in a cohesive way, the idea of class and group is still strong today. I see a lot of solidarity among today’s kids”, says Antonello Venditti the “godfather” of all Italian high school graduates thanks to the timeless “Night before the exams”, born forty years ago and contained in the cult album “Cuore”.
We met the singer-songwriter a few hours before the first of three sold out at the Baths of Caracalla (repeat tonight and June 21st). A three-hour show full of hits that evoke unforgettable moments in the name of love and friendship: “Friendship is the first feeling in the life of a man and a woman – declared Venditti -. Friendship has no boundaries, it has no sex, political or religious divisions, but it is what makes us move forward and hope. The love? It is an imperfect friendship, because in some cases unfortunately it is extreme selfishnesscreates violence and fractures such as feminicide: I have never seen it happen with a friend.”
The setlist starts with the instrumental intro of “Also sprach Zarathustra-Thus spoke Zarathustra“, which anticipates the opening with “Bomb or no bomb”, in homage to the previous tour with De Gregori. The set-list was divided into 3 parts: the first and last with the artist’s evergreens, while the central part is the entire album “Cuore” (“one of the most difficult and beautiful records I have ever written ”) played live, with the tracklist order closing with the new unreleased song “Say a word”Italian version of “Say Something” of the American duo A Great Big Worldin collaboration with Christina Aguilera. In between there are masterpieces like “High Tide”, “Remember Me”, “In This World of Thieves” which seems to have been written today. And of course “Night before the exams” (86 million streams and Double Platinum certification) with the artist surrounded by high school graduates who are taking the first written test today.
On stage the historic band: Alessandro Canini on drums, Fabio Pignatelli on bass, Angelo Abate on piano and hammond, Danilo Cherni on keyboards, Toti Panzanelli and Maurizio Perfetto on guitars, Amedeo Bianchi on sax, Roberta Palmigiani on violin, Laura Ugolini and Laura Marafioti on choirs.
PRE-MATURITY NIGHTMARES – “Amazingly I have never been put off in mathematics, which by the way I have always found easier than physics! In the 1976 final exams I got an average of 7. I had nightmares throughout my high school diploma because I had to take all the subjects and I was terrified of being rejected and then doing it all again also because of the Chemistry which I really didn’t understand. And then there were different nightmares and nightmares about written and oral (laughs, ed.)”.
THE ESCAPE TO FLORENCE BEFORE THE WRITING – “The day before writing I got on the motorbike with my mentor, Oliviero Bartoletti, passionate about two wheels and cars. Among other things, he was the one who taught me to drive. In short, we escaped to Florence for a tour and returned in time for the opening of my Giulio Cesare school. At that moment I felt like I was half asleep, I wrote and I felt like I had Oliviero there by my side telling me what to write. The truth is that maturity when you live it is hell and when you remember it it’s magical.”
SUICIDE INSTINCTS, THE MEETING WITH DALLA, THE REBIRTH IN ROME– “Cuore marked my return to Rome from which I had moved away due to the separation with Simona Izzo, I couldn’t see my son and I had spent all the money on the album ‘Buona Domenica‘. I had taken refuge in Brianza, but it was a very tough period with delusions of suicidal instinct. Luckily nothing ever materialized because I’m a rational, I had also thought about how. The problem is that I drive the car too slowly (laughs, ed.). After meeting Lucio Dalla I was convinced to return to Rome who welcomed me with great love and cradled me. I had also become unaccustomed to Rome, I felt the Roman accent was far away from me. By now I was from Brianza. ‘Heart’ was born there. Then I also held my first concert at the Circus Maximus in 1983 which was unique. I don’t really remember anything about those moments except that I was in a state of ecstasy, it seemed like I was in paradise after the transition from the most extreme solitude. It took me ten days to recover”.
“SATIRE IS BAD FOR ALL POLITICS” – One of the most important songs on the album “Cuore” is “The Optimist”. Venditti explained “It was satirical and ironic but it wasn’t welcomed at all, it wasn’t accepted, it hurt. Today Bobo Craxi, Bettino’s son, is happily a friend of mine and we hang out. But then he wrote an article in “L’Avanti!” which was a blowjob – which I still have – from the title ‘Venditti’s harsh attack on the PSI’. There I understood that satire is bad for politicians and is unbearable by the Left, Right and Center. No friend defended me and I was a victim of discrimination. I believe that, even today, satire is a good way to break balls. The real revolutionaries are no longer there. There are no longer those who risk and lose their lives for a lofty ideal like Giovanni Falcone. Now politicians do politics with veneers and other things.”
“ANNALISA? EXCELLENT BUT FORCED BY THE MARKET” – “Today’s music? I like. The point, however, is that I know how to do what they do, I could write like them, but they don’t know how to do what I can do. I know all the languages, many have come to my house and we have talked. But when we were young we didn’t have deadlines, here they are afraid of being forgotten the next day. This is torture. Madame she is the true inspirer of all the sound world that comes. Annalisa? She is a very good singer, like few girls in the world, but she was forced by a market decided by I don’t know who to become something other than herself. The same goes for Angelina Mangoit seems to me that they are forced into a sound that is not theirs.”
THE LADDER (ACT I) 1. Bomb or not bomb 2. Under the sign of Pisces 3. Sara
4. Giulia 5. Tears of rain 6. Peppino 7. Julius Caesar (2nd ACT) 8. Night before the exams 9. Never any video ever 10. Here 11. It’s not cocaine 12. We need a friend 13. The optimistic 14. Piero and Cinzia 15. Stella (III ACT) 16. Say a word (new single) 17. What a fantastic story life is 18. From the skin to the heart 19. Unique 20. Friends never 21. High tide 22. Welcome to paradise 23. In this world of thieves BIS 24. Remember me 25. Rome boss
