Geolier’s first time at San Siro (flying over the stadium)
Promise, blood, ransom, glory. These are the phases that Geolier went through in his career and around which the Neapolitan rapper built his first stadium tour, officially inaugurated last night at San Siro after the zero date in Termoli. A story divided into four seals that will also accompany the artist in the next stages of the tour: June 19th at the Olympic Stadium in Rome, June 23rd at the Franco Scoglio Stadium in Messina and June 26th, 27th and 28th at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium in Naples, with the final event broadcast in livestream on the Amazon Music App, on the Amazon Music Italia channel on Twitch, Fire TV and Prime Video. “Each seal reflects a moment of life and very specific pieces – explains Emanuele Palumbo to journalists a few hours before the show – it is a way to tell all the music I have made over the course of my small career”.
“This is proof that North and South are one”
A career that brings him today in front of 47 thousand people in Milan, to which will be added the approximately 50 thousand expected in Rome and the over 150 thousand distributed over the three Neapolitan evenings. Numbers that make Geolier the second Neapolitan artist to star in a concert at San Siro and the first to bring a show entirely in Neapolitan to the stadium stage. “Arriving at San Siro is proof that the division between North and South has never existed,” he says backstage. A concept that he will also repeat during the concert. “This is proof that North and South are one, they have fooled us until now.” The blue wave of Napoli shirts that colors the stands speaks well of the relationship between Geolier and his audience. A bond that also comes from the awareness of being part of a story bigger than one’s own. “I am happy to open the doors to those who come after, but I have the privilege of passing through the doors opened by those who preceded me,” he says, referring to Edoardo Bennato, the first Italian artist to fill the San Siro in 1980, and to Pino Daniele, who opened Bob Marley’s concert in the Milanese stadium in the same year. It is therefore not surprising that one of the most significant moments of the evening is entrusted to “Everything is possible”, a song that opens with the voice of Pino Daniele. “Pino is an artistic father, I grew up with ‘Quanno chiove’, which I listened to every morning when I went to work in the factory with my brother. It’s a misnomer to say that I bring Pino back to San Siro. Everyone who makes music in Naples is inspired by him and anyone who makes music remembers him. I’m grateful to have this piece on the record that was given to me by his family and it’s incredible to be able to play it at San Siro”.
The show
The show kicks off with the seal of “Promise”accompanied by a string orchestra. It is the chapter dedicated to the boy who imagines a different future and chooses to believe in his own talent. The songs follow one another almost without interruptions, punctuated only by the moments necessary to catch one’s breath and introduce the musicians who accompany him on stage: Cristian Capasso on bass, Guido Della Gatta on guitar, Vittorio Landolfi on drums, Nicola Abate on keyboards, Agnese De Amicis and Anna Aurora Grieco on violins, Giada Nugnes on viola and Marta Poliello on cello. The second seal, “Blood”is that of family, devotion, neighborhood and popular faith. Themes that also return in his words when he thinks back to the most difficult moments of the journey. “The only person who supported me in moments No it was me. Then I always had my family, my brothers, my friends, my city by my side. But I never made him understand some things, I kept the “no’s” to myself.” The family, on the other hand, is also present in full at the San Siro, privileged spectators of a story that seems to go far beyond simple musical success.
The guests, from Lazza to Kid Yugi
During the concert the first guest of the evening arrives: Lazza takes the stage for ‘Chiagne’, sharing with Geolier one of the most successful songs in their repertoire. It’s just the beginning of a series of collaborations that continue with Shiva in ‘Bad Bad Bad’, Kid Yugi in ‘Olé’ e MV Killa in ‘Amo ma chi t’ sap’ and ‘Cadillac’, performed under a Cadillac suspended over the stage. The third chapter, “Redemption and Rise”, it is the one in which the story also becomes an image. During ‘Campioni in Italia’ and ‘P Secondigliano’ Geolier flies about thirty meters above the audience, before returning to the stage for ‘I p’ me, tu p’ te’, the song presented at the 74th edition of the Sanremo Festival. And precisely when talking about Sanremo, the rapper calmly dismisses the topic of prejudices that have accompanied part of his journey. “If there were they never weighed so much. Prejudice makes you think badly without consuming the product. But if out of 47 thousand people present at San Siro 50% are from Naples, the other 50% I know about approx. And if they had been slaves to this prejudice they wouldn’t be here. Innovation creates distance, but I believe that over time the old generations must bond with the new ones so as not to create generational rifts”.
In Naples there will be 50 Cent
Among the musical influences he recognizes in his own training he cites Co’Sang, 50 Cent, Michael Jackson, Gigi D’Alessio and Pino Daniele. And with 50 Cent, with whom he signed the song ‘Phantom’, the path is destined to cross again on June 26th in Naples. “He will do a DJ set at the after show and it will be an opportunity to sing together again, but I don’t think he will go on stage with me.” There is then space for one of the most intimate moments of the entire concert, entrusted to “A rich man and a poor man”, accompanied by the orchestra. “It’s one of the most beautiful pieces I’ve done and will do in my career and I didn’t expect it would be so well received. For the live performance I chose to dedicate a more intimate moment to it, with the orchestra.” Off stage Geolier often reflects on the meaning of success and the responsibility that comes from being a point of reference for many kids. “Today I am more mature in maintaining, in giving, in planning. I have fun, every morning I thank God for experiencing all this. I am very grateful. And for this I tell young people to be happy. I don’t use social media because they make us sick, I have seen many kids do things not to be happy, but to demonstrate that they are happy. I am 26 years old, the same age as many of these kids and if I could I would use the concert time to make them understand that the values are different”. A thought that also resurfaces during the show. “This boy who is on stage is the same as each of you, he has had many no’s, many doors in his face. I don’t wish you anything material, I wish you to be happy as I am happy tonight in front of all of you”. On international conflicts he prefers to maintain a different position. “I don’t talk about war, I’ve never spoken out on the subject because I think it’s obvious that it’s useless, when there are people and children who suffer it’s wrong. The kids come here to get away from the wrong things that happen outside, I think everyone shares this vision.”
“I want to do in Naples what Bad Bunny did in Puerto Rico”
The show ends with “Seal of Glory”, the one that celebrates public recognition and the possibility of sharing with thousands of people a story that until a few years ago seemed unlikely. But the finish line does not coincide with the end of the journey. “Afterwards there are still many dreams in the drawer. I have the desire to do a residency in Naples like Bad Bunny in Puerto Rico, Madison Square Garden in New York like Nino D’Angelo”. And when the conversation moves beyond the music, the tone changes. “I never started making music to create a future or stability for my family. Luckily they have it now and when I think about all this I feel incredibly empty in my stomach. When this engine shuts down I’ll think about it. After Sanremo Giorgia told me that when it all ends you and the people you chose along the way remain. When all this mess fades away I’ll have time to enjoy my loved ones, maybe start a family.”
