Francesco De Gregori in search of lost songs and stories
Entering the Out Off Theater there is a wall of Francesco De Gregori merchandising and t-shirts: some feature phrases from songs, such as “Pablo”. When the singer-songwriter goes on stage the first thing he says is “Did you read the title of these evenings correctly? You are warned, I will not play the famous songs and you will not get your money back.” He says it in an amused manner, almost laughing: “Above all, don’t ask me ‘Pablo’, like someone always does”, the 200 spectators in the room respond with applause.
It is the first of the “Nevergreen (Perfette sknowni)” evenings, with the “lost” songs of the repertoire on the setlist. It is an updated version of “Off the record” that he did in 2019 at the Garbatella in Rome: a “residency” of 20 shows in a month, also in a small place outside the centre, literally and metaphorically: the Out Off is one historic experimental theater in the north of Milan.
“Today if you can’t write sold out you’re a failure”
De Gregori – Pork Pie hat black on the head, dark jacket and light trousers – immediately reinforces the concept: “Today if you can’t write sold out you’re a failure. So to avoid the problem I bought a 200-seat theater”, which obviously sold out immediately. He does it for the pleasure of music and playing, he has prepared 50 songs, others will be developed along the way. The lineup for the second evening will already be completely different from the first.
With him on stage there is a seven-piece band: compared to the Garbatella show there are also drums and a backing vocalist. The beginning is semi-acoustic, with “Quattro cani” and “The girl and the mine”: next to me there is a fan who shows he recognizes every song, another not far away records everything with his mobile phone, with the flash always on . “Use them, do what you want, but I advise you to enjoy the evening,” he had said shortly before. In the front row there is Mayor Sala, sitting on a small chair to the side, one of those added to create a few more seats.
Already in the third song we move on to rock, with a tense and electric version of “Caldo escuro” (from “Amore nel afternoon”), which is one of the best moments of the evening. On “Searching for another Egypt” a Rickenbacker appears in the band, the guitar of the Beatles, Byrds, Tom Petty and REM. The “bandleader” Guido Guglielminetti occasionally plays a Höfner bass like that of Paul McCartney. In the mix you can hear the vintage sound of the Hammond organ, which refers to classic Dylan.
Dylan, Nannini, Pacifico
Citing Dylan when talking about De Gregori may be banal and obvious, but he himself evokes it: in the second part of the setlist there is “Baby blue”, an unreleased version of “It’s all over now baby blue”, translated together with Pacifico and Gianna Nannini, who accompany him on stage: “And the saints you prayed to are no longer there, it’s all water under the bridge baby blue”, they sing.
De Gregori says that he feels good working with Pacifico and that Nannini then took over the song – even if the song doesn’t yet have a precise location, perhaps it will be used by Gianna for one of her projects. Pacifico is also called on stage to sing “Alice”: he says he learned to play the guitar with De Gregori’s songs (“You could have learned with Hendrix!”, he replies). Nannini, after the Dylan cover, instead takes the stage with “America”, accompanied by electric guitarist De Gregori. Together they then sing “Diamante”, the song that De Gregori wrote for Zucchero.
Stories, history and characters
The first part of the evening is a gallery of characters and stories: murdered Santa Clauses, singers (“Caterina” and “Festival”, dedicated to Tenco), still others who have lived moments of History with a capital S such as “the chef from Salò ” or those who experienced the bombs on “San Lorenzo” in Rome, then seeing the Pope appear in the neighborhood like “an angel with glasses”.
“Numbers to download” (from “Pieces”) tells the story of the Auschwitz railway worker, the one who made the trains arrive on time at the concentration camp and for whom people were only accounting. “Be wary of those who promise to make the trains arrive on time,” he jokes. “But this morning I thought that perhaps this expression also concerns my profession, where now only the numbers to download count anymore,” he reflects.
De Gregori is a storyteller, as well as a singer. He talks about his career with self-irony; “There was a period when they told me that they couldn’t understand what I was saying, but I knew what I had in mind when I wrote. Then everyone sees what they want in the songs… Making footnotes seems ugly to me, so imagine,” he recommends.
The evergreens
Contrary to the premises, the second part of the evening sees several evergreens appear: in the lineup there are “Generale”, “Rimmel”, a “Sempre e per semper” piano and voice. Then the encores with “Damn to music” and “Buonanotte fiorellino” with a final collective waltz: even the mayor takes to the dance floor and dances, at the invitation of De Gregori. However, no “Pablo”.
But let’s not say “Damn music”: with these concerts, theaters or larger spaces could be filled, the profit and loss account is a break-even. But they are done to have the audience within one meter, for the pleasure of singing and playing the songs you want “without effects, without bases, really live” as he clarifies at a certain point.
Two memorable hours of concert, which fly by in an instant, between a song that you feel like you’re listening to for the first time and one that you sing as if you’ve always known it (and that’s really the case). “Strange people, the artists”, he says goodbye: it is clear that he is pleased to see that the concert and the formula were enjoyed, that he is happy to sing his songs and tell his stories, even the lesser-known ones. And he can’t wait to start again: it will be repeated tonight, then on October 31st, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20, 22 and November 23.
The ladder
Four dogs
The girl and the mine
Warm and dark
Looking for another Egypt
The crazy ones
Catherine
Festival
Gambadilegno in Paris
The killing of Santa Claus
The chef from Salò
Numbers to download
San Lorenzo
General
Alice (with Pacifico)
Baby blue (with Gianna Nannini)
America (with Gianna Nannini)
Diamante (with Gianna Nannini)
Banana republic
A glove
Always and forever
Rimmel
encore
Damn the music
Goodnight little flower