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You can’t rule rock and if you do AC/DC they make an Italian stop, you have to be there (which then, who knows when it will happen again). The announcement of the Reggio-Emilia date (the live show is at Campovolo, where Rammstein will also be performing in July) arrived in February for the concert on Saturday 25 May (just over three months earlier) and as usual, the waiting for the click-day.
Fingers loose on the keyboard, already on the e-commerce site, ready to shoot at 10 sharp on a Friday morning that someone took off because “you never know”. Anxiety and pessimism (“Okay, come on, I won’t miss out on much since they’re now grandparents”), then the feeling of being privileged because you managed to pass into the (virtual) waiting room with the stopwatch telling you how long you will have to wait for the final verdict.
At the end the confirmation that you have made it and you just have to choose your seat and your ticket. Whatever it takes. And in my case it cost 100 euros + presale of 15 euros (the question is always the same: why do I have to pay more if I buy a ticket in advance?) + 14 euros of insurance since you never know. And then there are 2.50 delivery costs (?). Total for two tickets: 261.94 euros. Meanwhile, just a few hours later, the obvious news that the 100 thousand tickets have been sold and that the live show is SOLD OUT.
At this point it is necessary to decide how to get to Campovolo di Reggio-Emilia (how to get there from Bologna: Here is an indicative diagram of the possibilities), where to leave any vehicle or which train/shuttle to take. I opt for a private vehicle because that’s how you make a car. It is possible to park inside the large area of the arena by reserving your place: 25 euros for the car, 10 for a motorbike, 40 euros for campers. All in all not excessive, among other things with very clear maps and indications on the site. But then I think about it again: how long does it take to finish the concert with 100 thousand people leaving and what queues will there be on the way back? And if we then drink a few beers, isn’t it better to abandon the idea of driving and maybe think about sleeping in the area?
Let’s look at what the market offers: a look at Airbnb and Booking. The first accommodation I see is about ten minutes walk from the RCF Arena and is also at a special price. I click. “Cozy studio apartment in bohemian style, recently renovated, convenient to public transport and the Reggio Emilia station.” I read that there are smart TVs and kettles but that the bed is a double sofa bed. Let’s see how much it costs.
Well, on the other hand it’s a special evening. Who knows how much it costs when there isn’t an Australian band in town to attract all these people. Here, a simulation from the previous weekend, just to understand what fluctuations there are. Always a studio apartment, always the sofa bed, the kettle and access to Netflix. Always two people.
Even on Booking the prices are more or less the same: 309, 360 and 542 euros for a double room in a hotel. The 364 one has two stars, the others zero stars, but reviews ranging from 7 to 8.2 points. They will certainly be very clean, very comfortable, equipped with all possible comforts and services. An apartment superior in Reggio Emilia it reaches 789 euros for the night of May 25th. The same one, a week later, is worth 94. That is, less than 100 euros on the night between Saturday 1st and Sunday 2nd June and almost 800 on the evening of the concert. The fact is that all these rooms are still available.
The revenge of the “low”: prices also rise in the countryside
But of course, we are so close to the stage that it fits. We need to take a look at the slightly more uncomfortable options, perhaps in countryside areas where the prices will certainly be more affordable and even if there are a few kilometers to travel, it will never be like standing in a queue on the motorway. The idea is to sleep in the surrounding area and then the next day go and discover the area and have lunch in some farmhouse. But even the “low” has some surprises in store for us. Here too the comparison is between a normal Saturday and AC/DC Saturday.
In the Rubiera area you can see rooms for 220, 375 and apartments for 522 euros. In Scandiano there is one at 234 and in the San Ruffino area at 272. All without a swimming pool or padel court. At this point, out of curiosity and putting myself in the shoes of someone who comes from abroad or from other cities and who is perhaps less lazy than me, I cast my eye on the offers in Bologna, hypothesizing that after the adrenaline-filled evening it would be nice to spend a Sunday under the two Towers: in Strada Maggiore a Deluxe room costs 178 euros and the cheapest option near the center is 88 euros. Affordable.
Moral of the story, the truly hard rock spirit wouldn’t even contemplate the idea of being able to fall asleep (for any amount) after listening to songs like TNT and Thunderstruck. The best thing is to go home with the background music Highway to Hell.
