Ten (divided by two) Years Gone

Hi to those who read me!

This post should be in Italian language... soon you'll understand why.

What a strange beginning for a prog oriented post, isn't it?

Ok. It's a joke that I'm going to explain.

Five years ago (and so ten divided by two! It was the only way to start with that great beautiful song by Led Zeppelin!) I strongly felt the need to change something in my life, so I changed my job.

Suddenly the choice revealed unlucky, the new company unsure and I had the luck to succeed to come back to my preceding company.

But my position already was occupied by a new colleague so my boss said to me: "I can give you another chance, but in our Northern Italy Offices".

I was born and lived for 50 years in Naples, one of the most beautiful and mistreated cities in the World, and until then I never thought my life could be separated from my beloved hometown, my daughters, my brothers & sisters and my old friends!

And more... I was involved in several musical projects: jazz standards, Psycho Alternative, improvisational performances, and so on ...

But I needed to work and so I said: "No Problem".
I often say "No problem" when I feel there is almost one!

I came in touch with Lodi, my present residential city, in June 2010.

Luckily I already knew some people in Milan (many of them components of the Marillion Italian Fan Club), so I didn't fear loneliness.
With my usual attitude I hardly fear loneliness after all, as you can imagine!

In september 2010 I first came in contact with Veruno Progfestival because I wanted to go there with some friends and listen to Gazpacho, Moongarden and Pendragon LIVE. 

From that first time Veruno Prog has become an adamant date in my calendar. Nothing can happen (and I hope it will never happen) to separate me from it!!

And its boss Alberto Temporelli is always happy to meet me again every year!

It's my true holyday, the best period of my year. 

It's the time I can be side by side with most of the people I always talk about music with on Facebook, musicians and not, from Italy or abroad. 

It's the opportunity to know more bands, music and musicians, whether I like them or not!
Here on the left you can see me, separating the Tempio's proficient music composers and performers Fabio Gremo (bass, acoustic and classic guitars) and Elisa Montaldo (Keyboards and Vocals) at the Veruno Prog 2012 edition.

In october 2010 I first met Silver Key in a LIVE at Casa di Alex in Milan (at the time they played as a Marillion tribute band).

In december I first was astonished by Il Tempio Delle Clessidre LIVE at Casa di Alex.

It's funny because I still cannot remember why I was there, since I didn't know them, but there I was... and still now I think I had luck!

On January 2012 I went to Pro(g) Liguria and I heard for the first time (with a huge amount of shivers) Sophya Baccini's incredible voice during Osanna exhibition, among the other bands, Il Tempio above all.

In april I first saw one of the greatest piano performers and composers in the World, Hiromi Uehara LIVE in Ravenna, and the friend I was there with took the shot of her with me you can see on the right side!

Since then I have seen Hiromi every time she's been in the neighbourhood, promoting her music to other friends who now love her as me!

In november I first met Yoshiko PK during the Progvention at Bloom in Mezzago and I was very surprised she was able to understand Italian language! Now she's improving her knowledge, sometimes trying to speak italian, and is one of my best Facebook friends!

In 2013, at the Altrock Festival at Casa di Alex I first came in contact with the visionary genius of the pair Zago/Botta and Alessio Calandriello powerful vocalism and I realized that if you want to listen something of uneasy rare beauty, you have to listen to Not A Good Sign, the true King Crimson Italian heirs (please notice... not equal to, but heirs).
In the same situation I noticed Martino Malacrida's hyper drumming and nowadays I know I was not wrong: he's one of the most talented young drummers in Italy.
My relationship with the components of this incredible band became so strong, especially making feel them my passion and admiration, even in difficult moments during the realization of the second album, that they named me in the credits, as you can see on the right.
What a great surprise and pride!

Later, thanks to Marina Montobbio and my love for Il Tempio, for th first time in my life I went on  a stage, at the Teatro Govi in Genova, as interviewer, and I felt comfortably in my shoes while I was going left and right on the stage, asking questions to the musicians and talking with the audience about Tempio latest work Alienatura (now we're hoping for the next one!)

In 2014, I had the opportunity to share with two of my favourite music friends, one of the greatest LIVE acts nowadays on the road.
The Aristocrats combine heavy rock, fusion, jazz and many other influences with great feeling and musical taste.

They are three great musicians and in particular, I think Guthrie Govan is one of the most talented guitar players in this period.

In 2014 and 2015, thanks to Massimo Gasperini, I took part of FIM - Fiera Internazionale della Musica in Genoa as freelance music reporter, interviewing Sophya Baccini (after we became good friends) and Ingranaggi Della Valle and reporting about the event. This report has been also translated in Finnish language on Colossus Magazine, as you can notice above on the left.

In 2015 Massimo Cataldi involved me in some activities in Casa di Alex and, among the others, I helped him to built the instrumental backline in some occasions, with my band's instruments, just to lend a hand and make the Music freely flow.

Moreover I met for the first time one of my all time favourite drummers, Dave Weckl, after his great, intense and exciting jazz performance in Fiorenzuola D'Arda, The photo on the right is a bit cut, but shows my double happiness because I was with my second daughter Daniela.

 
 Recently I took part of two shows on Radio Tempi Dispari. an Internet Radio, with Zia Mildred: one anticipating Veruno Prog 2015, side by side with Alberto Temporelli, and the other based on a Facebook group created by myself, No Prog Allowed, which unexpectedly from the creator (me) it definitely avoids progressive rock music in the proposals!
The idea was that who usually listens to Prog Rock is generally able to select great pop music!
Well... If you go on the Radio link  http://www.radiotempidispari.net and listen to the music selection in the shows, you'll realize I was not wrong!

During the most of my free time, when I'm without my drumsticks in my hands, I think, write, talk, discuss and post about music, gigs, festivals, and so on, feeling as a part of it...and the organizers and musicians LET me feel a part of it, maybe by noticing my passion, admiration and sincerity... 

Often I try to let know to my friends in the south of Italy what kind of musical atmosphere I am able to breathe in this area... and I feel satisfied!

Now I have lots of friends with whom I often go to gigs, exchange impressions, new music stuff, go to the pub for a (several) beer and so on.

We often find we feel the same way in front of several items, and also when the feeling is opposite, we generally respect the other point of view, strengthening our relationships.
It would be impossible to name them, because they are a huge multitude, but in the shot you can see the two who I usually am with!


From the drums player side, I'm still trying to improve my technical level practising so hard when I can, and  I've been involved in several avocational musical projects, passing through a jazz standards band, a rock blues coverband (the last coverband in my life, I swear!), hard rock, AOR and progfusion bands, which are the two I'm still involved with passion and fulfilment.

I'm sure if I stayed in the south of Italy, where unfortunately NOTHING comes but pale shadows of all this sometimes chaotic musical activity, I would never have reached this high as now!

And trust me... losing the opportunity to talk about music with Elisa Montaldo, Sophya Baccini, Fabio Gremo, Martino Malacrida, Francesco Zago, Paolo Botta,  Yoshiko PK, Alessandro Corvaglia, Luca Scherani, Marcella Arganese and many others... is surely a great loss for a music lover!

During these five years I've had the opportunity to enrich my musical knowledge, meeting and appreciating bands from Italy and abroad, talking about music with an incredible number of music lovers (not only prog lovers, who sometimes are a bit too Taliban!), most of them avocational or professional instrumentalists and musicians, but all passionate listeners.

Nowadays I'm well known as a honest and sincere music lover and enthusiastic proposer, who always says what he thinks, sometimes finding the right way to express his negative opinion, in the Progressive Rock Music area (Ok... it's not so large and diffused) and not only, in Italy and out of Italy, among the musicians and the promoters. This brings me joy and satisfaction, but I don't want to stop... I need to give more to Music, because SHE gives a lot to me!

Even if probably I'll never take an active part as a musician in this exciting area (but never say never... sometimes the distance has played a bad part), I'm happy to be another kind of active part of it.

What I'm trying to explain is that sometimes we think we have done a bad choice, sometimes it seems the worst choice, but behind it, there could be paradise.

Music Was My First Love

And It Will Be My Last

Music of the FUTURE

and Music of the PAST

To Live Without My Music

Would Be Impossible To Do

Links you may be interested in by reading this post:

http://proglessons.blogspot.it/2013/12/a-night-with-il-tempio-delle-clessidre.html

http://proglessons.blogspot.it/2014/09/veroodstock-ovvero-il-festival-prog-piu.html

http://proglessons.blogspot.it/2015/09/veruno-is-always-veroodstock-2-days.html

http://proglessons.blogspot.it/2014/07/sophya-baccini-ho-dato-voce-ai-dipinti.html

http://proglessons.blogspot.it/2014/05/fim-where-f-stays-for-feast.html

http://proglessons.blogspot.it/2014/07/ingranaggi-della-valle-tutta-colpa-dei.html

Turning Point Albums - Sesta Parte

I link delle "puntate precedenti"!

Prima Parte: http://proglessons.blogspot.it/2014/09/turning-point-albums-prima-parte.html

Seconda Parte: http://proglessons.blogspot.it/2014/09/turning-point-albums-seconda-parte.html

Terza Parte: http://proglessons.blogspot.it/2014/10/turning-point-albums-terza-parte.html

Quarta Parte:  http://proglessons.blogspot.it/2014/10/turning-point-albums-quarta-parte.html

Quinta Parte: http://proglessons.blogspot.it/2014/11/turning-point-albums-quinta-parte.html

Molti sono soliti dire "Con gli anni del liceo andò via anche la spensieratezza".
Nel mio caso trascorsero solo gli anni del liceo... purtroppo con eccessiva velocità, questo si.

Con loro non andò via la mia spensieratezza (ancora non è andata via oggi, per certi versi!), ma si spense lentamente il progressive rock con il sopraggiungere della New Wave e del Punk.

Non posso dire che fui colto impreparato. Peter Gabriel nel suo secondo lavoro (quello che oggi chiamano II o Scratch (per via della cover con il nostro amico che graffia l'immagine) si spostò decisamente verso sonorità New Wave per poi cambiare definitivamente nel III o Melt (sempre per via della cover in cui l'immagine appare parzialmente fusa) creando quel suo sound caratteristico che non abbandonò mai più.

Nel breve periodo che trascorse dal chiudere il capitolo delle scuole superiori ed aprire quello del matrimonio ascoltai ed acquistai poco, giusto per completare le discografie che avevo a cuore (oggi non la penso più così: se un lavoro non mi piace non lo acquisto, punto e basta) e un pò di musica strumentale, spesso retrodatata.

Mi sposai molto giovane, a 21 anni.
Quando lo si fa dopo essere cresciuto in una famiglia come la mia, non è per un colpo di testa, ma per amore.

E per amore di lì a poco nacque la mia prima figlia, Simona.

Posso asserire con assoluta certezza che abbiamo conosciuto i Marillion insieme, come è raccontato brevemente nel post a loro dedicato:

http://proglessons.blogspot.it/2010/11/i-marillion.html

Noterete che il post è un pò grezzo... era uno dei primi che scrivevo e non avevo ancora chiare le potenzialità di diffusione della musica del blog

Anche in questo caso farò un'eccezione alla regola e posterò due brani da due diversi LP, perchè ho conosciuto la band acquistando i primi due album insieme.

Ora potrete dire tutto ciò che volete: che erano derivativi, che scimmiottavano i Genesis, che avevano un pessimo batterista (peraltro cosa assolutamente vera!), che il chitarrista era Gilmour dipendente... ma ascoltateli bene, perchè i Marillion forse sono davvero tutte queste cose (o meglio... lo erano!), ma avevano passione, calore e inventiva.

Notate con quanta passione Fish  si inerpica sulle lyrics passando attraverso diversi mood fino a uno quasi militaresco e poi uno appassionato, che si apre con quello splendido intervento di chitarra di Rothery che, è vero, negli assoli prende molto dal chitarrista dei Pink Floyd (forse per questo moltissimi suoi interventi mi colpiscono nel profondo), ma è caldo e appassionato, inoltre le sue sezioni ritmiche e le sue sonorità sono di tutt'altra provenienza, più heavy rock, e questo contribuisce a renderlo più interessante di tanti altri emuli che si ostinano a ripetere all'infinito, senza personalità, il loro maestro.

Il brano sopra riportato chiude il loro album di esordio Script for a Jester's Tear e ne è, a mio modo di sentire, la perla più pura!

Il brano successivo è preso da Fugazi, il secondo lavoro della band.

Ascoltate questo brano e prestate attenzione alla sezione ritmica.

La sola sostituzione del batterista con uno (allora) più dinamico e tecnicamente più ferrato la fa levitare a livelli decisamente superiori!

Lyrics sanguigne e accorate, assolo di Rothery che con i suoi bending tiratissimi, le sue terzine e il suo tappeto di note sulla reprise di Fish strappa una fortissima emozione... bello , non è vero?

I Marillion mi hanno permesso di scoprire che c'era ancora musica capace di emozionarmi, dopo tanto piattume, e mi hanno accompagnato per tutti gli anni della mia maturazione e della mia vita matrimoniale, fino alla separazione. Sia che al canto ci fosse Fish o Hogarth, a loro devo moltissimo, in termini emotivi e sentimentali, come ho descritto nel post a loro dedicato.

Sebbene oggi non me la senta più di dire di essere a loro legato indissolubilmente, come pensavo un tempo (spesso lo pensiamo anche per i rapporti sentimentali e interpersonali e guardate talvolta come vanno a finire!), rimangono un importante svolta della mia crescita musicale, sebbene non mi abbiano aperto un nuovo mondo, ma il cuore... e l'hanno fatto grondare di emozioni, quello si!

Ora ascoltate questo brano in silenzio...

La lunga intro introspettiva ed intimista e quell'entrata di Pat da brivido come potrebbero mai lasciare indifferente uno come me?

Tutto il brano è splendido, sia che alla solista ci sia il bravissimo tastierista  Lyle Mays che lo stratosferico chitarrista (ora sessantenne) Pat Metheny, uno dei musicisti che stimo maggiormente da quando l'ho conosciuto, pur non condividendone tutte le sue scelte artistiche.
Perchè lo stimo? Perchè è un tutt'uno con il suo strumento e si mostra sempre appassionatissimo di suonarlo, come fosse la prima volta.
Ho visto vari Live di Pat e bisogna tirarlo via dal palco, altrimenti non smetterebbe mai di suonare!
E' un grandissimo professionista proprio perchè adora quello che fa.

Credo che il Pat Metheny Group sia l'unica band che abbia conosciuto da un album Live, cosa piuttosto inusuale per me!
Ancora una volta devo la sua conoscenza alle mie passeggiate vomeresi!

Questo secondo brano è maggiormente ispirato ad alcune sonorità dei Weather Report, specie per le linee di basso iniziali, ma le parti armoniche e melodiche sono tipiche di questo grande musicista, che miscela sonorità jazz e sudamericane, per tirare fuori quello che al tempo dissero fosse di orientamento New Age o soft jazz.

Poco incline a dare etichette troppo restrittive, per me PMG rappresentò un nuovo modo di interpretare gli stilemi del jazz.

L'apertura verso questo nuovo terreno fino ad allora  poco esplorato, mi aprì a nuove conoscenze musicali, seppure jazz oriented, meno complesse del recente passato, come i fantastici Yellow Jackets, inizialmente addirittura molto funky ma divenuti più interessanti a partire dal loro album Four Corners, e gli ispirati e morbidi Shadowfax con The Dreams of Children, passando per il virtuoso e passionale Bireli Lagrene con il suo Foreign Affairs (e altri titoli), più un'altra serie di minori, che risultavano piacevoli, ma non eccessivamente degni di nota.
E' stata la mia svolta musicale più morbida ed estetica, meno sanguigna e passionale, forse perchè giunta in età più matura, ma non per questo meno importante: da qui ho imparato ad ascoltare, con grande interesse e godimento, qualcosa di jazz puro, da Miles Davis a Buddy Rich, Wes Montgomery, Jack DeJohnette, John Scofield (che rispose alla 'So What' di Davis con la sua 'Tell You What' nell'album Loud Jazz) e tanti altri. Mi sono persino concesso il lusso di suonare un pò di jazz standards in alcune band (una di sei elementi napoletana e una di cinque elementi milanese), magari un pò scolasticamente, ma con grande divertimento!

E' stato grazie a questa apertura musicale che oggi sono ben lieto di essere un fervente ammiratore della geniale Hiromi Uehara, la piccola e graziosa, geniale e virtuosa pianista giapponese che miscela innumerevoli contaminazioni, dal jazz al progressive, nella spumeggiante musica che compone.

Ecco... i miei TPA sono terminati.
Questo non vuol dire che da allora io non abbia ascoltato musica interessante!
Avrete visto che nel blog ho citato e parlato di alcune band più recenti che hanno eccitato i miei sensi e mi hanno appassionato con la loro musica.

A parte la già citata Hiromi e i recentissimi e sorprendenti The Aristocrats (peraltro ispiratori della mia band di prog fusion E.G.P. ProJecT), partendo dagli inglesi Porcupine Tree, gli americani Spock's Beard e Echolyn, gli svedesi Flower Kings (poi divenutimi un pò ostici), che mi hanno dato la grande gioia di scoprire che il prog non era morto, ma solo divenuto di nicchia, e i più recenti polacchi Riverside, con le loro atmosfere cupe e dense di pathos, passando per i potenti francesi Lazuli e Nemo, si giunge agli italiani Il Tempio Delle Clessidre, Yugen e Not A Good Sign, che a mio modo di sentire spiccano su tanti altri connazionali per personalità ed originalità.

Qualcuno potrà asserire che sono tutti derivativi, è vero (mi domando allo stato attuale chi non lo sia!) e, almeno per me, non TPA, perchè non hanno cambiato il mio modo di ascoltare la musica, ma sono tutti ottimi musicisti, dotati di inventiva, buon gusto musicale e mettono talmente tanta passione in ciò che suonano, che riescono a tramsettere, con la loro musica, immense good vibrations!

Per ora vi saluto, ma attendetevi un post conclusivo sull'argomento!

FIM - Where F stays for FEAST

This is the first time I write on my blog in English language.

I do it because my japanese prog friend Yoshiko Kase was unable to partecipate to FIM because of severe health disease, but she would have really liked to be with all of us. 

Now she's getting well and ... this is is especially for you, dear sweet Yoshiko! 

Better to write just now, while I still have vivid in my eyes the images and in my ears the voices of these great three days dedicated to the sublime art. 

FIM (Fiera Internazionale della Musica) has reached the second edition and someone said to me it was born as a crazy gamble.

And if the first edition maybe was disavantaged by the location (It was in Villanova d'Albenga), this second one, based in Genova Fair near the sea, seems it has found the correct location and I think that the future editions will reach more sponsors and will be enriched with more important guests and customers!

FIM MUST grow up because of its genious and unique format: it joins together the needs of the musicians and of music lovers.

Sincerely my first intention was to go and see the shows on the GREEN STAGE, the one dedicated to Progressive Rock music.

Massimo Gasperini of Black Widow Records was the Art Director of this section.

Despite of the great number of musicians in his own Label, he selected the most representative ones in the national area, giving to all of us the chance to have a look to great musical performances.

What happened after, wandering among the stands, talking with the musicians, the owners and to the customers, was surprising. I felt really submerged into the music, captured by the power that it has on me.

I have seen musical instruments ethnic, old and new, acoustic and electronic, joined a drum battle playing congas, attended to free clinics, skimmed through thousands of LP, CD and DVD's, recovered images hidden in my memory and rejoined to always strong emotions... eternal ones!

The GREEN STAGE was behind the exit opposite to the main entrance, so you should have to pass through the main hall, full of stands, to reach it.

The amplification set was quite good, the music was clearly diffused and as many could know, it's not so easy on opendoor stages. But there were some difficulties with the sampled sounds. This created problems to the artists using these devices, sometimes quite irrelevant, but more often really noisy.

Among the shows of the FIRST DAY Il Tempio delle Clessidre and Sophya Baccini's Aradia in my opinion took advantage on the others, even though in the show list (as shown on the left) there were also the good Panthera &C., the young Unreal City and the interesting Psycho Praxis.

Il Tempio Delle Clessidre gave us a SHOCKING performance, full of good vibrations,with Francesco Ciapica in fine form, who sung well inspired and with plenty of feeling, covering the whole stage with his natural theatrics, the astonishing beauty keyboardist Elisa Montaldo, who several times cast  a glance to the audience, happy to see they were actively participating to the show singing and dancing with the band, the always enchanting Fabio Gremo, never in the same place on the stage, oscillating perpetually between the powerful and precise Paolo Tixi on the drums and the polished and able Giulio Canepa on guitars.

Even when Fabio's bass string cracked (very rare event, if you think about its thickness), Elisa and Francesco fastly decided to perform 'La Stanza Nascosta', which involves only vocals and keyboards, to give him enough time to replace it. LEGENDARY!

After such a huge amount of emotions, it would have been not so easy to anyone to go up the stage and gain audience attention another time, but Sophya Baccini, the little blondhaired woman  from Naples, did it with her great voice and her stage presence.

With her all women band (except for the good guitar player Chicco Accetta) Sophya catapulted the audience in William Blake's pictorial works, performing songs from her latest work Big Red Dragon.

Through the leader vibrating interpretation, the good keyboardist Marilena Striano, the Stella Manfredi violin virtuosity, the solid rhythm background  by Isa Dido (bass) and Francesca Claps (drums), their mediterranean energy and their music all pervaded by classic, folk and mediterranean references, Sophya Baccini's Aradia filled us with emotion and surprise, reaching the goal to capture another time the attention of the audience, showing us through a certain musical "Stendhal Syndrome", how you can be submerged and captured by paints, when they are true artworks!

Though this performance was affected by technical problems on the sampled sounds, the musicians covered the negative effect with their enthusiasm and professionalism, giving to the audience another hour of great music!

In the SECOND DAY the highest was reached, in my opinion, by La Coscienza di Zeno, Spettri (really a great surprise!) and Lino Vairetti's Osanna, with the only misfortune of Sophya's absence on the song ' 'A Zingara' (due to her raucousness), where she usually sings in counter melody on Lino's voice, provoking shivers up and down the spine to the audience. Without her voice this song loses a lot of its emotional impact.

But the whole lineup was really very interesting  pasing through the folk prog of C.A.P. (Consorzio Acqua Potabile) with Alvaro Fella always full of energy also on a wheelchair (he will be well soon), and Alphataurus, the historical RPI band, among the others.

La Coscienza di Zeno excited the audience through Luca Scherani inspired arpeggio, helped by Stefano Agnini, Alessio Calandriello powerful and wisely tuned singing and Davide Serpico's fine guitar, well supported by Gabriele Guidi Colombi's bass and Andrea Orlando's drumming.

Spettri were previously unknown to me, even if they started in the '70s, so that I gave them less attention at the very start, but it only took a couple of minutes of their groovy and hard sound, well in tune with Ugo Ponticiello's dark and rough voice, to gain my attention. The playlist was very powerful until a soft and sweet melody took place, sung by the guest Elisa Montaldo in her own special way, as ever.

Osanna, sons of my beloved hometown, gave us a high level performance, full of feeling and shudders, ranging in their huge repertory, playing old songs in a modern manner, shifting to a sound more funky oriented with the help of Gennaro Barba's rich drumming and Nello D'Anna great work on bass. I found very interesting Pasquale Capobianco's guitar solos.

The THIRD DAY was also full of interesting artists. Bands that enriched RPI history as La Maschera di Cera, Aldo Tagliapietra (ex- Le Orme) and Locanda delle Fate, and more recent ones as Gran Torino and Prophexy (Guest Richard Sinclair who still has his great warm and friendly voice!), the surprising Ingranaggi della Valle and Universal Totem Orchestra and Not a Good Sign, the most representative crimsonian italian band: complex, full of emotional tension, anxiogenic and with aerial spacings of undoubt beauty.

While Universal Totem Orchestra surprised me with their classical and jazzy inserts and the astonishing Ana Torres Fraile vocalism, who jumps with great talent from operatic to jazz phrasing, Ingranaggi della Valle (I listened before to their first album In Hoc Signo) impressed me because, even if they glean from different musical assets such as Genesis, Gentle Giant, Area, Brand X, they are so young but already have great character and play as old musicians!

Maschera di Cera were temporarily without Fabio Zuffanti, involved in his solo album tour, proficiently substituted by Guglielmo Mariotti (ex- The Watch). They gave us a very good performance thanks to Alessandro Corvaglia great vocalism and stage presence and the other very good musicians of the band.

Sadly I didn't attend to Gran Torino entire performance for the second time (the first was in Milan some months ago), because I was busy elsewhere, but I know they are a great instrumental progrock band.

In the interview after the performance they said that are planning to insert vocals in the next work. 

Hope they will change their idea because I fear they could lose their personal and well-roundend sound.

Hats off to Not a Good Sign, that performed their Live being disturbed by a little stage behind them where Police songs were played! I have nothing to say about Police band (they were great!), but during the pianissimo, which are present in NAGS music, the beating of 'Message in a Bottle' was awful!

Nevertheless their performance was brilliant, Alessio Calandriello vocalism was perfect and intense, Paolo Botta sound registers were great, Martino Malacrida great talented drumming was perfectly in tune with Alessandro Cassani bass patterns and, above all of them, there was Francesco Zago greatly inspired incisive guitar playing! Great stuff, really!

FIM was to me a brilliant experience, exciting and captivating, and I'm sure I will never miss future editions, especially if they will be located into the Genova Fair.
I felt emotions similar to Veruno September ProgFest, where after all the woodstock-ish atmosphere wins above all!

During FIM I celebrated my 55th birthday and I'm sure it has been one of the best after a long time, because I was in luck to be immersed in my natural habitat (music) and surrounded by dozens of persons for whom I feel admiration and sincere affection.

PROG ON!