Max Pezzali: the triumph at San Siro which is now his home

Max Pezzali he returns to the site of the “crime”, where two years ago his career had made a great comeback: the San Siro Stadium. It was 15 and 16 July 2022 when the doors of the Milan stadium opened to the former 883 for the first time.

Those two dates were then followed in 2023 by a long and successful tour in sports halls and a performance at the Circo Massimo in Rome. Hence the decision for the summer of 2024 to organize a real tour in stadiums, starting on June 9 with the zero date in Trieste and then moving on to Turin, Bologna (two dates), Rome and Milan for three dates and then Messina and Bari. To these concerts is added for a tail end of the tour in September the participation in the Red Valley Festival in Olbia.

While waiting for the tour in April, a new single was also released “Abandoned nightclubs” (read here), obviously in the lineup on these dates (although less attended by the public).

Even before the concert begins, the launch is announced on the screens of a TV series on air from October 11th on Sky entitled “Hanno ucciso l’uomo ragno”, signed by Sydney Sibilia in which the story of the birth of the 883 is told in eight episodes with Elia Nuzzolo and Matteo Oscar Giuggioli who play Max Pezzali and Mauro Repetto respectively.

After the notes of Jovanotti Of “Hello Mom” at 9.28 pm we begin and everything starts with a clip (which develops in several parts in the show) which is followed by the marching band that accompanies each date, which goes on stage introducing, with a medley, the star who upon her entrance she is greeted with a roar. The first two pieces are performed with the accompaniment of the band and its brass instruments joining Max’s stage group.

The scenography is impressive and colorful. On stage there are many macro objects that recall the songs of Pezzali/883’s repertoire: hands, cactus, “deca”, balloons, radios, road signs and, of course, the spider web and the “Arbre Magique” (all messages for boomers). The scenography is grandiose, spectacular, but the audio quality is questionable. On the central screen, on the image of Pezzali (with dark glasses) colorful images are superimposed, a kind of “stickers” very 80s and 90s, then graphic mirror balls and other visuals. Then during the performance of “The harsh law of goals” on the screen scroll the images of a sticker album in which Max is teamed up with other stars, musical and otherwise: Kurt, John, Amy, Diana, Ghandi, Freddie, Nelson, the Jamaican Bob and the American Bob and… have fun finding the others.

From the very beginning it is what you can expect: a party, a moment of sharing, of great communion, which involves the audience, even the young ones. There is the same sense of belonging that was experienced a few days earlier at the Sfera Ebbasta concert, only that here the ritual involves parents and children. And so those present at San Siro are all ready to sing, to even cover Max’s voice or to replace him (in “How come” And “No regrets”).

It is pop music, in its popular sense, with which Max has always drawn and told (and perhaps idealized a little) the 90s generation, the post-paninara one, “lighter”, the one “of big companies, of scooters always in two” as Max sings, of good feelings but also of the “2 of spades”. A world that is a little anachronistic today, with its lexical and behavioral language, a vision of adolescence/youth relegated to that historical period but that with its flavor of “past that does not pass” still manages to conquer even the young. His melodies are also winning, his atmospheres that still make sense today and the easy rhymes that make everything very immediate and simple.

When besides him (fortunately) Italian rock had its own vitality and richness, while hip hop was growing, Max Pezzali was the “maligned Pezzali”, an image of lightness, musical disengagement, record triumph and the most pop simple. Yet Pezzali is still here today, capable, in his second youth, of filling stadiums, of creating celebrations (then as now). Max puts on a convincing, colourful, energetic show, full of rhythm, fun, with a set list of hits (the tour is called “Hit Forever” for nothing else) mostly coming from the 883 repertoire. There is also a “ recovery from the treasures of the past” – as Max says, before performing “I’m here too” (2002), never before performed live and recovered for this tour (“I know that many of you love it”… and it would seem so).

Few words (no “ciao Milanooooo”), zero guests, little protagonism, lots of substance and a show that doesn’t stray into the circus. It should be taken for what it is, aware of what it offers, knowing that you are approaching music with a simple flavor, always festive but performed by a band (two guitars, keyboards, bass and drums) that sounds current, under the direction of Davide Ferrario. Fun.

Ladder

Clip
Intro
Journey to the center of the world
Really beautiful
The queen of celebrity
The friend rule
I will be there
How it should go
Route to God’s house
Don’t give me the cold shoulder / you’re acting like a loser / blue joker / the radio
You are fantastic
The big nightmare
Clip
Abandoned nightclubs
You’re a myth
In the night (rmx)
Weekend (rmx)
The long, hot summer
A love song
How come
No regrets
Here you are
I’m here too
The harsh law of goals
Clip
They killed Spider-Man
Years
Thank you very much (acoustic version)
Clip
NSOE / Keep Time
With a deca