Vasco’s live albums, from worst to best
He built his empire also and above all on concerts, which for decades have been defined as secular rites, mass rock ceremonies. After all, that of Vasco Rossi is a real cult for his fans, which is mostly consumed precisely in the live dimension, because – he says – «the concert is a rite of communion and liberation». It is no coincidence, therefore, that the rocker from Zocca is the Italian artist to have released the greatest number of live albums during his career: with “Vasco Live 2025 – The essentials”, out tomorrow, there will be 13 in total, from that “Okay, okay like this” which in 1984 captured on tape the emotions of the tour of his consecration after the two Sanremo Festivals of “Vado al massimo” and “Vita spericolata” to “Vasco Live Milano Sansiro”, passing through “Fronte del stage” and “Rewind”. We had fun ranking all of Vasco’s live albums, from worst to best. Waiting to understand where the latest arrival will place.
#12 – “All in one night – Live Kom 015” (2016):
After missing a tour in 2012 to recover from the health problems that had affected Vasco the previous year, the endocarditis that forced him to be admitted to hospital and to cancel part of the 2011 tour, in 2013 the rocker from Zocca restarts his epic, which continued in 2014 and then again in 2015. This live album revives the magic of the concert on July 3 2015 at the San Paolo Stadium in Naples, complete with a dedication to Pino Daniele. It is a live album that arrives in a transition phase of Vasco’s history, just before that watershed of no return that was “Modena Park”.
#11 – “VascoNonStop Live” (2019):
Six consecutive sold out concerts at San Siro needed to be celebrated in some way. This live album takes care of it in 2019, recorded with the voices of the 350 thousand spectators who filled the Scala del Calcio on the 1st, 2nd, 6th, 7th, 11th and 12th of June of that year, singing at the top of their lungs the various “What happens in the city”, “Bring me God”, “There are those who say no”, “I’ll cut your throat”. The tracklist is enriched by the unreleased studio song “Se ti could say”.
#10 – “Vasco live Milano Sansiro” (2025):
We are always at San Siro. Recorded on 12 June 2024, it is the souvenir of the seven consecutive dates held by Vasco in the Milanese stadium that month. The live performance is enriched by the manifesto-song “The mistakes you make”, the theme song for the Netflix series “The survivor”.
#9 – “Vasco Live Rome Circus Maximus” (2022):
It’s a photograph of another magical night. Actually, two. Those that on 11 and 12 June 2022 saw the emperor of Italian rock perform for the first time in his career at the Circus Maximus, in front of over 140 thousand fans in total. The setlist includes the classics of a lifetime and songs from the album “We are here”, released the previous year.
#8 – “Vasco Live Kom 011: The complete edition” (2012):
The king is naked. Published in 2012, it was recorded on the occasion of the four concerts held on 16, 17, 21 and 22 June 2011 at the San Siro Stadium in Milan, a few weeks before the tour was canceled due to hospitalization linked to the endocarditis that struck the rocker that summer.
#7 – “Vasco London Instant Live 04.05.2010” (2010):
An unprecedented Vasco, dealing with an international audience, that of the concert held at the Hammersmith Apollo in London on 4 May 2010 on the occasion of the “Europe Indoor Tour”.
#6 – “Good or bad Live Anthology 04.05” (2005):
The tour was that of the album “Good or bad”, over 470 thousand tickets sold in total in Italian stadiums. Accompanied by a band of champions, capable of bringing together old (Maurizio Solieri, Claudio Golinelli, Andrea Innesto) and new companions (Mkie Baird, who joined the Blasco group in 2001 and left at the end of that tour), Vasco was in extraordinary form. You can hear it. The album sold over 400 thousand copies, equal to a Diamond Record.
#5 – “Rewind” (1999):
30 thousand spectators were originally expected at the Imola racetrack on the occasion of Vasco’s show at the Heineken Jammin’ Festival on the evening of 20 June 1998. In the end there were more than 100 thousand. It was Blasco’s biggest celebration, at least until then.
#4 – “Front of the Stage” (1990):
Recorded during the “Blasco tour” of 1989, specifically on the 18th and 19th of June at the civic arena in Milan, it sounds like an anticipation of the Vasco stadium phenomenon.
#3 – “Vasco Live 10.7.90 San Siro” (1991):
It tells of a crucial moment in Vasco’s career: the first concert of his career at the San Siro Stadium, on 10 July 1990. After that night, the voice of “Vita spericolata” would return to perform in the Scala del Calcio another 35 times: the first, however, remains the most legendary of all and this live album is proof of this.
#2 – “Vasco Modena Park” (2017):
He captures on tape the emotions of an epochal night, the one that on 1 July 2017 saw the rocker from Zocca celebrate his 40-year career in front of over 220 thousand spectators at the Enzo Ferrari park in Modena. Vasco was in a state of grace that evening, surrounded by a special light. The concert, epic and with a solemn beginning, entrusted to “Così parlò Zarathustra” by Richard Strauss, saw him re-perform songs that he had not performed for some time, from “Colpa d’Alfredo” to “Alibi”. In “Anima fragili” there is Gaetano Curreri on the piano. The dedication to Massimo Riva on “Canzone” is poignant.
#1 – “Okay, That’s Okay” (1984):
It is the first, the most iconic of all. Released in 1984, in the midst of Vasco’s exploits on a national scale after his two participations in the Sanremo Festival in 1982 with “Vado al massimo” and 1983 with “Vita spericolata”, it photographs the rising Vasco-mania. The songs were recorded on the occasion of concerts at the Palasport in Cantù, at the Discoteca Verona 2000 in San Giovanni Lupatoto and at the Teatro Tenda in Bologna during the “Bollicine tour” of 1983. Vasco is suspended between the provincial dimension and great success: recordings such as those of “Colpa d’Alfredo”, “Deviazioni”, “Liver, liver spapplato” (with a tribute to “God save the Queen” by the Sex Pistols), “Bubbles” and “Sono solo noi” capture the energy and confusion of that period. To embellish the album, the unreleased “Va bene, va bene cos”, originally intended for Mina.
