Michael Kiwanuka, the strength of delicacy

Unequivocally, the Michael Kiwanuka concert scheduled for March 3, 2025 in Milan took place at the Alcatraz.

Yet, judging by the atmosphere that was breathed above and under the stage, it seemed to be on the other side: in a theater, perhaps, or even in a church, judging by the religious silence with which the public welcomed the phenomenon of English soul songwriter. It was not a hostile or indifferent mutism, but unlike respectful and loading a look at. To the dynamics that his music brings in the dowry we are almost no longer used to: it is a historical moment in which he competes to break through the sound of the sound on disk and live, and the subdued and full of feeling of his songs are a pleasant exception to the rule. Just as the show of hundreds of people who, without anyone asking for it, almost unfortunately decide to leave their cell phone in the pocket for two hours, without looming to filter and photograph every moment of the show (the bright cameras counted on the fingers of one hand).

For all these reasons, but not only for these, the dates of Kiwanuka remain an unmissable appointment for the true lovers of today’s music.

Nothing is designed to make the scene, yet everything is memorable. The set-up is intimate and full of heat, with the abat-jour to act as a single furniture on stage and visuals that project affectionate family scenes, children, marital love and pride for their origins. The band is static and aesthetically uncoordinated, each member of the group dressed as it seemed and probably with the sole intention of being comfortable in his own corner, but the lack of a stylist and a choreography does not warn anyone, considering that they sound so well together that it is difficult not to consider them as a unique body. Kiwanuka will perhaps say ten words throughout the evening, of which five expenses to make sure that the person who passed out in the front row was rescued properly, but even in this case it is right, it is the music that speaks for him. And we can only listen to her, without even daring to sing with him so as not to break the magic of the moment. Only at times, on the most famous songs – from “Home Again” to “Cold Little Heart”, passing through “Solid Ground”, “Black Man in A White World” and for the grand finale “Love & Hate” – a chorus leverages shyly, but in half a voice, with the foresight of never exceeding so as not to overlook his vibrating stamp and full of nuances that seems to have come out of another era.

Everything perfect, then? Almost. Let’s say that the show has a great flaw, which is the lack of dynamics: delicacy remains the prevalent key of the whole concert, even in its moments of greater intensity. It is certainly a weighted choice, given that its albums (including “Small Changes”, the latest arrival released at the end of 2024) are certainly not lacking in contrasts. But in a world that screams by the lumberjack to be heard, hitting the heart with a whispered message in the whispered has a symbolic importance not to be underestimated.

The ladder:

The rest of me
Follow Your Dreams
You ain’t the problem
Father’s Child
Black man in a white world
Rule The World Hero
Floating Parade
Light
Home Again Play
Solid Ground

Rebel Soul
One and Only
Stay by My Side
Lowdown (part I)
Lowdown (Part II)
Small Changes
Four Long Years
Cold Little Heart
Love & hate