“I’m here, I’m not moving. This is how I experience music: I need time to get into the mood.” Are theand 9 a.m. Saturday morning and I hear these words spoken on the Taranto seafront – right above a walk dedicated to the great journalist Alessandro Leogrande –, where it is already murderously hot. It will be one of the constants of the week Medimexcapable of putting everyone to the test, including Thom Yorke, who that same evening, in one of his numerous expressions as an “acquired Italian”, will let himself go into a “what a fucking hot!”
The girl in front of me, who has no intention of moving from there, is about thirty years old and has fiery red hair. She placed a sheet on the floor, immediately outside the barriers that delimit the main stage area. In about 13 hours Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood will take to that stage, accompanied by Sons Of Kemet drummer Tom Skinner. He will wait.
“I travel all over Europe to go and listen to music, it is my greatest passion. I am from Brindisi, and when there is an event of this type in my home the joy is double. And also the pride”, he explains. I meet her again around midnight, among six thousand other Radiohead fans, excited for a concert that, despite the “fucking hot”, was pure ecstasy.
It is the great strength of Smile, and the great strength of Medimex: two deafening testimonies that “the future is not written”, not even in a world, that of music (live and otherwise), in full delirium of omnipotence, victim of its own growth curve and of triumph of data analysts. Smile and Medimex found each other and liked each other. During the pandemic Yorke and his associates invented a new band to allow themselves a bit of “happy degrowth” and go back to playing around without having to take on the bandwagon by Radiohead. For years, Medimex has been pushing forward with conviction the idea that major events can also be held outside the large centres, that institutions can and indeed must do their part, that the return of initiatives like these to the local area is simply invaluable.
It’s not just Smile – I heard more than one person queuing for a Raffo say excitedly: “do you realize that there are Radiohead in Taranto” –, everything here has a high level of added value. On Sunday evening, in front of another six thousand paying spectators, they performed on that stageJesus and Mary Chain – one of the most influential bands ever for the alternative scene – ei Pulp, at their only Italian date after being acclaimed at Primavera. For the occasion, Medimex sold tickets in over 30 countries, including outside Europe. The pride of those who see “the world” arrive at their home, the world that goes this far moved by the quality of its artistic proposal.
Yes, because, in addition to being the “city of the two seas”, in the meantime Taranto has become the “city of festivals”. Just take a tour of the city – from the Tamburi district, the closest to the former Ilva, to the swing bridge, from via d’Aquino to the Old City that made Pasolini fall in love – to find posters of numerous events, such as Cinzella or Ultrasuoni. Culture calls cultureand if there is a place in Italy that needs it, it is precisely this one, with everything it has been through and is continuing to go through.
There is another place that testifies to the vitality of this place, and its uniqueness. Spaceport was born in 2013, in the wake of the mobilizations that led to the birth of the Taranto May Day. There are 500 square meters in which various activities are carried out, and which these days hosts the Medimex showcases. A place where the music can be heard really well (no, it’s not a detail or rather it shouldn’t be for a live club), where for three evenings numerous local and foreign artists and bands took turns. Various pleasant discoveries, above all Comradthe band of Giò Sada, a local hero who went from winning an old X Factor to provincial stages without losing a thread of shit.
Even with 40 degrees in the shade – all the more problematic for the large Milanese delegation of which we are part, given that summer here this year has forgotten to begin – everyone wanted to fully enjoy an event spread across various areas of the city. The most popular meetings and the viewing of a (cool) film dedicated to Marc Bolan were held at the Fusco Theatre, training moments at university (including those organized by Rockit dedicated to podcasts and digital fanzines, we’ll tell you about them in the next few days), al conservatory writing campuses and tutoring with young artists.
A mention for the French Saints, among the most anticipated, protagonists of a very interesting talk, and for the videomapping dedicated to AI (the theme of the edition) which colored the façade of the Aragonese Castle and made it resonate at night. Finally, it is impossible not to mention Bob Gruenan artist who has changed the language of musical photography since the 70s and who was a guest of Medimex to present his exhibition dedicated to John Lennon, with whom he shared his New York years. The shots of the former Beatles were the gem of this edition, also and above all for the place in which they are found: the MARTAone of the most important archaeological museums in Southern Italy.
The shots will remain there until July 14th, offering, for those who want it, an excellent excuse to return to Taranto, a city that is rewriting its place in the world thanks to music. Alternatively, there is already a new date for the next Medimex, which returns to Taranto from 17 to 21 June 2025. And never mind if it’s still “fucking hot”.
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The article Medimex 2024: music reinvents cities by Dario Falcini appeared on Rockit.it on 2024-06-24 12:57:00
