Firenze Rocks - Live report (Red Hot chili peppers, Jerry Cantrell, Greta Van Fleet and Metallica)


Enrico Spinelli about his experience with Firenze Rock and live performances by Red Hot chili peppers, Jerry Cantrell, Greta Van Fleet and Metallica.

RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS
Exciting to return after two years of forced detention to an event that I have always carried in my heart for obvious reasons, exciting to see an oceanic crowd of people like I had never seen before, exciting to see that writing and that stage that I had missed so much.
These are the first sensations in returning to Visarno for the Red Hot Chili Peppers: having the ticket also for the Metallica day, and affecting up to a certain point the bands that played before, I arrive around 19. I do not fail to note, however, that those who play immediately before fall mostly within the rap genre... Resigned to the usual problems, including the looting of tokens, I am going to wait for the headliners.
At 9.30 pm sharp Chad, Flea and Frusciante attack with their instrumental jam before Anthony Kiedis makes his entrance on the notes of "Can't Stop". From here starts the concert that will last an hour and a half, absolutely perfect on a musical and vocal level (thanks also to perfect acoustics that well balanced the very poor visibility and annoying animations on the big screens), but rather cold in regards to interacting with the audience. Anthony in particular, perhaps to preserve his voice, limits himself to the minimum wage in the movements and the pauses of two minutes between one song and another (often covered by instrumental improvisations) seem to be made on purpose to allow him to catch his breath. And then the setlist, 15 songs including 5 directly from the last album (understandable, and luckily the best episodes) but really there was nothing better than the boring "Charlie"? In the end, the performance gets an 8 on the technical level while getting a 6 on the interaction level, we conclude with a clean 7... and let's get ready for Metallica.



METALLICA - GRETA VAN FLEET - JERRY CANTRELL
Here we are, the day most awaited by me has arrived! Full of excitement - for the uninitiated Metallica are one of the first bands that introduced me to metal (and never mind if I am still one of the few to worship "S&M") - I plan to be at the concert venue in time for the beginning of the performances. Unfortunately, the long queue at the entrance prevents me from attending the short concert of our Blind Monkeys, but at least I manage to earn a good place, served enough by fire hydrants, to put myself waiting for the first artist of my interest.

JERRY CANTRELL
18 o'clock (punctuality will be one of the constants of this festival) and the blond guitarist makes his appearance on stage. Known to all more for being one of the founders of Alice in Chains than for his solo career, he decides to offer us a set (alas of only 45 minutes) consisting of most of his compositions ("Atone" shines in this sense, "Brighten", "Cut You In" and "Siren Song"), limiting the forays into the repertoire of the mother band, of which we remember the splendid "Man in the Box" and "Rooster". His elegant rock, rich in blues and grunge shades, might have deserved a twilight location to fully enjoy the atmosphere created by his songs, but it was still a very classy performance.

GRETA VAN FLEET
Ruffians, scripts, built at the table, fake, as many as I have heard about them, yet these guys yesterday became the protagonists of simply excellent performance, an hour and twenty of  70s hard rock, with a vocalist in frightening form and a simply monstrous instrumental sector. Their performance reminded me of what I look for in a rock concert, fun, involvement and mutual participation of bands and audiences in a rock party: thrilling songs like "Safari Song", "Black Smoke Rising" and "Heart Above", just to name 3,  and despite having only 3 albums, I am convinced that their verve will take them higher and higher. The only regret was the presence on the stage of a thousand lights which were practically useless since the sun was still very present.


METALLICA
It's just after 9.30 pm when the notes of "It's a Long Way To The Top" by Ac/Dc burst into the arena, followed by the video of "The good, the bad, the ugly" complete with "Ecstasy of Gold" ", the party begins... and the war! Immediately small groups of people went wild in the pogo while the four horsemen make their entrance with "Whiplash" (devastating); here the perfect acoustics of the Festival had some hesitation, fortunately resolved in a short time. 

The 4 continue with their foot firmly planted on the accelerator, blasting us two excellent "Creeping Death" and "Enter Sandman", before the violent "Trapped Under Ice". So far we have been in line with the setlist of the European tour, but the first surprise comes from the performance of the evocative and melancholy "No Leaf Clover", a song that at the time of "S&M" I admit I didn't love much and that instead, performed live reaches frightening emotional levels. After a heartfelt and participatory "Sad But True" Hetfield has the unfortunate idea of ​​asking the audience for an opinion on "St Anger" before attacking with "Dirty Window": for the record, I coherently voted against and I remained with my arms crossed throughout the performance; However, I apologize to those close to me who were filming and who will find me at the end saying "We got rid of St. Anger, let's get back to serious business".

Another surprise, at least in relation to the European tour, is a moving "Nothing Else Matters": those who know me know that I don't love this piece very much, but hearing it live has its undoubted charm. sure, if I think that to do this they removed "Welcome Home" I'm not really happy. The concert goes on smooth with the classic "For Whom the Bell Tolls" and with the recent and engaging "Moth Into The Flame", but it is with "Fade To Black" that the emotions fly to the stars, only to return violently to land with his classic "Seek and Destroy".

It's time for an encore and even here the band doesn't spare itself, rattling off an earthquake "Damage Inc.", the always magnetic "One", complete with lighting effects and then closing the dance with that musical cathedral that is "Master Of Puppets" on which any comment is practically superfluous. A cascade of fireworks perfectly closes two hours of a devastating concert. It was great to see how these 4 gentlemen have fun and know how to entertain while maintaining levels of monstrous performances. Of course, the good Lars made a few mistakes and Rob Trujillo's facial expressions got me tired in the long run - and the setlist could perhaps have been curated a little better ("Dirty Window" my God, I have to list all the songs that would have deserved more?!), but overall I would say that we were rewarded with an absolutely excellent performance, with all due respect to those who would have liked to hear "Fuel", sorry...

CONCLUSIONS
It's over, I come home exhausted but happy, happy to have seen some of my idols, perhaps one of the last bands for which I would tear the - little - hair I have to see them, full of beautiful memories and emotions that go to enrich my concert memory and give oxygen to my steel heart. Thanks Jerry Cantrell, thanks Greta Van Fleet, thanks Metallica and THANKS FIRENZE ROCKS !!!!
Giovanni Gagliano

Passionate about music I wrote my first article for "Given To Rock" in 2012, reaching now 30K global followers. I am also a musician, gigging around London.

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