Una bella serata

Due to the tragedy of the train derailment and explosion at the station here in Viareggio on June 30th, a concert was held for the hospitals and victims last Wednesday night. The idea for the concert was headed up by the highest selling Italian artist of all-time, Zucchero, who is a blues/southern rocker, some of you may have heard of him. Sara, Ilenia, Sofia, Brian and I all decided to go and had so much fun. The concert was held in the Pini Soccer Stadium which is surrounded by these massive pine trees that set a beautiful backdrop to the stage. Most of the 16,500 people in attendance sprawled out on the soccer field, including us, and ate paninis or gelato while waiting for the concert to begin. There were around 20 artists in the lineup, mostly Italian performers, plus Solomon Burke, Eric Lewis, Jeff Beck, and Sting. On top of these guys we also got to hear some of the Italian artists we've been listening to a lot here recently like J-Ax, Malika, Karima, Mario Biondi, and Andrea Bocelli. We got to see Bocelli here and also in Venice. He’s never been one of my top favs but he really sings so beautifully live and performs with ease. The soccer coach for Roma, Lippi, is also from Viareggio and he came on stage and said a few words along with some other Italian celebrities. It was really a beautiful evening, and I think the perfect opportunity to experience an Italian concert since we got to see such a variety of performers. We were also happy to support the town since we were here on the night of the explosion.

One thing that surprised us was how many songs we heard in English. Each performer sang about two songs with at least one in English which was kind of strange, but just further proves their obsession with American culture. It certainly made it easier on Brian and I to relax and not have to worry about translating. Highlights for us included getting to see Sting perform for the first time, watching Eric Lewis go nuts on the piano, Jeff Becks' rendition of Nessun Dorma while feeling the excitement and electricity of the crowd as they sang along with his guitar, Matteo Becucci, Karima, and Mario Biondi. It was a really incredible evening, perfect weather. The concert started at eight thirty and didn’t end until almost one, after which we went to the Cremeria Emma for some lemon and sugar crepes the girls and gelato for Brian. The Viareggians were thrilled and moved by all the support. The word they kept using to describe the evening to me the next day was indimenticabile...unforgettable.

Zucchero for the finale with the children's chorus

|