One day suddenly, Liberato conquered (also) Sziget
The “crank” siren that sounds at the Sziget Festival from the speakers of the Revolut Stage at the beginning of “Guagliò” is the signal that marks the beginning of what has become a real rite. Because Liberato’s concerts are this, now. Started with a budget of 250 euroshow many were spent to make the video for “Nove maggio” (it was 2017: today on YouTube the clip has 28 million views), and culminated with the documentary film by Francesco Lettieri and Giorgio Testi released in cinemas last spring, that of the mysterious Neapolitan singer has managed to become over the years a project that aspires to be a cult even abroadfocusing on
captivating performances and on one production with international appeal. In terms of live performances, Liberato seems to be more interested in transnational success than in Italy, also because of the background of the mysterious voice of “Nove maggio”: in the film “Il segreto di Liberato” it is said that it was in London that the artist laid the foundations of his artistic proposal, that mix of r&b, uk garage, house music based on a very strong bond with the Neapolitan musical tradition, the Naples where he grew up and that shaped him. The numbers speak for themselves: if we exclude the appearance at the Club to Club in 2017 in Turin (when Calcutta, Priestess, Izi and Shablo appeared on stage, amidst general confusion), the two flash mobs in 2018 at the Rotonda Armando Diaz in Naples and at the Barrio in Milan and the one in 2022 in Procida and the performance last September for the inmates of the Poggiorele prison, the number of official concerts held by Liberato in Italy is reduced to just six (including three last September in Piazza del Plebiscito, in the heart of his city). Abroad, however, the shows of the voice of “Tu t’e scurdat’ ‘e me” amount to nine: last night’s at Sziget was the tenth. As well as the apex, for reactions, of the European mini-tour announced a year after the club shows in Berlin, Paris, London and Dour, which after stopping in June at Primavera Sound in Barcelona will close on August 18 on the stage of the French festival Cabaret Vert, in Charleville-Mézières.
Under the stage of the Revolut Stage of the Sziget Festival, everyone is singing and dancing, including Italians – Neapolitans in the lead, with blue scarves and t-shirts of Maradona, Osimhen, Kvaratskheliawho get pumped up even before the concert to the tune of stadium anthems: “One day suddenly, I fell in love with you…” – who don’t miss the chance to see one of the most interesting and original phenomena of recent years in action at an international festival (by the way: yesterday the tricolour flag was virtually waved at Sziget Venuswho performed on the Buzz stage), enthusiasts and curious people.
“You have to zumpà here. Go ‘fammocc’ a chi v’è stramuort”, the masked artist shouts into the microphone, in dialect, while he stirs up the crowd with “Guagliò”. It was the .2005 when the Almamegretta brought the Neapolitan language to the stage of the Hungarian festival, as undisputed protagonists of the European trip hop scene. Nineteen years later it is Liberato’s turn: the show of the mysterious Neapolitan artist lasts a short time, an hour and a quarter in all. But it is intense: the four masked musicians, one on percussion, one on guitars, one on keyboards and the other, the leader, who divides his time between microphone, keyboards and programming, bring on stage a small reproduction of the shows seen in Italy in Naples, Milan and Rome, between hypnotic visuals as a backdrop to an uninterrupted flow of music, in which the songs follow one another practically without interruption.
After “Guy“they are coming”You make me go crazy”, “Nunneover” (“Facimm nu poc e reggaeton,” he smiles, before making a mash up between his song and “Candy” by Rosalía) “Hey Mari”, which send the crowd gathered under the stage into a trance. And then, of course, there is “May 9th”: the bass can be felt almost all the way to the main stage area, where Liam Gallagher has now started performing, closing one of the most anticipated days of the Sziget week, with performances by US neo-psychedelic icon Yves Tumor, Texan rock rap hero Teezo Touchdown and British rap star Stormzy.
Italians aside, the international audience that preferred him to the British DJ CCL (who arrived from Bristol directly on the stage of the Yettel Colosseum), to the curious Australian metalheads of Future Static and to the Belgian DJ Mukambo seems to appreciate: Even if he doesn’t understand a word of the lyrics, he just goes with the flow. Giving in to the flow and rhythms of “Me staje appennenn’ amò”, “Partenope” and “Nunn’a voglio ‘ncuntrà”, with that homage to the black Tamurriata (“What is this stuff?”, someone wonders, with wide eyes, while the irresistible sampling starts from the console: “Bang bang, don’t stop / you’re going to my under the ‘ngopp / boom boom, okay / you’re going to Materdei / uh, uh, ah, ah / don’t tell me it’s fruit / mmocc’ a kitemmuort / o’ juorn ca’ t’aggio crerut”).
And finally, as the icing on the cake, “Tu t’e scurdat’ ‘e me” also arrives. When the lights of the Revolut Stage come back on, we look around looking for the complicity of others, convinced of having witnessed something out of the ordinary. .
