Turnstile live in Milan: the hardcore that everyone now wants to see
From promise of hardcore American to cultural phenomenon, urnstile arrive in Milan on the evening of November 12th in the midst of aan ascent that seems to know no end. The album “Never enough”, released last June, confirmed the group as one of most creative and transversal forces on the scenecapable of even being included by Elton John in his summer playlist. The five Grammy nominations they close a circle that few would have imagined when the band was lighting up the clubs of Baltimore. Now it’s Alcatraz’s turn, the Italian stage of a tour that brings the American band back to our area after the concerts at Magnolia last year and at the AMA Music Festival in 2023, then in minor roles. This time, however, the city responds with a full house announced for weeks, in one race for the ticket which says much more than any slogan: Turnstile have become a name that transcends genre.
The anticipation vibrates even before the lights dim, after the opening entrusted to High Vis and The Garden. At 9.45pm sharp, “Never enough” – which earned two nominations for “best rock song” and “best rock performance” at the Grammys – lights up the room. And the floor of Alcatraz immediately becomes a moving sea. electronic sounds who join the guitar distortions and clear drum hits they remember them experiments which have long characterized Turnstile and differentiated them from others, and which in their latest album took them to a further level. Live, however, the song breathes the impetus of its origins when the choirs of those present rise in unison, encouraged by the band itself. Brendan Yates is physicality: he commands and dissolves the distance between stage and audience, soon remaining bare-chested and shirtless. Daniel Fang dictates the rhythm like a human metronome, but with the heaviness of an underground club, while the guitars of Pat McCrory and the musician Meg Mills they draw tense trajectories. There lineup of twenty-one songs moves between explosions and suspensions, between the past and the present, alternating the impact of “TLC” of the previous “Glow on” of 2021, with “Drop” and “Real thing”, to the more dilated moments of “Light design” and “Sunshower”. Ample space is given to less recent workstaking heavily from the EP “Step 2 rhytm” of 2013 and the first album “Nonstop feeling” of 2015, bringing back to when the band sweated to impose its essence and not for the masses. It’s a rare balance: the mosh pit is constantthe stage diving doesn’t stop for a second, but it doesn’t cancel out the perception of a broader, almost contemplative sound.
There are bodies that fly and hands that intertwine, illuminated by spotlights that recreate the colors of the band. And then the choirs that become one while in the balcony you see Wolf Alice (on stage tomorrow, November 13th, right at Alcatraz) headbagging. Each piece is a fragment of something bigger: “Pushing me away” drags, “Sole” unites, “Seein’ stars” – the song chosen by Elton John for his platlist and now nominated for a Grammy as “Best interpretation of alternative music” – turns hardcore into a collective dance illuminated by the disco ball hanging from the ceiling. Yet, within the industrial walls of Alcatraz, one never has the sensation of witnessing a simple party and there is the idea of a shared ritualof a common language that speaks of freedom, belonging and catharsis. Even those who don’t know the genre seem to want to understand the meaning of all this, and above all being part of it, involved in an energy that leaves no escape.
After “Look out for me”, the group gives itself one last run with “Mystery”, “Blackout” and “Birds” – the other song competing for the Grammy as “Best metal performance” -, almost closing an hour and a half concert without breaks while the frontman invites some of the audience to let off steam on stage. Turnstile say goodbye leaving behind a precise idea: hardcore is no longer a fence, but has always been an open territory where everyone can enter. The important thing is respect. Tonight, in Milan, there is definitive proof.
The hardcore scene and music continue to make their scream heard, pushing the fury of sound to denounce inequalities and oppression. It is a world that is once again fascinating the masseswithout losing their anger and their social activism. Overseas, too Knocked Loose – especially thanks to the single with Poppy – they are touching the mainstream. There is pride and concern among the scene’s militants, with the fear that the industry could distort their goals. But Turnstille are already beyond that.
Here is the lineup:
NEVER ENOUGH
TLC (TURNSTILE LOVE CONNECTION)
ENDLESS
I CARE / DULL
DON’T PLAY
Real Thing
Drops
LIGHT DESIGN
Fazed Out
SUNSHOWER
7
Keep It Moving
Pushing Me Away
FLY AGAIN
SUN
CEILING (registered)
SEEIN’ STARS
HOLIDAY
LOOK OUT FOR ME
BIS
MYSTERY
BLACKOUT
BIRDS
