29.07.2023 at Forte di Bard

Who knows me know about my picky taste around contemporary Italian music which, with very few exceptions, I greatly dislike. Vinicio Capossela is one of these exceptions. Discovered via old friends in 2000 I have followed his music ever since, always being literally enchanted by his immense talent and storytelling.

F never saw Capossela live, so when we read of a leg of his tour here in Milan we were on the verge of buying tickets but then F saw another date in Bard (Valle d’Aosta): what better occasion than planning a weekend away if not with the excuse of great music?

On the night of the show the weather in the lovely Bard was terrible, it started raining soon after the start at 21:30, and as Vinicio Capossela kept on singing his songs the rain became a downpour then a thunderstorm so heavy that the concert had to be canceled.

Here’s the tracklist beneath the rain: (not 100% precise about the correct order of the tracks played, sorry)

• Il bene rifugio
• Staffette in bicicletta
• Sul divano occidentale
• Gloria all’archibugio
• La crociata dei bambini
• Ariosto Governatore
• All you can eat
• La cattiva educazione
• Cha Cha Chaf della pozzanghera
• Marajà
• Bardamù
• Ultimo amore
• Camera a sud
• Che coss’è l’amor

…But lucky us for the rain! Because following the inevitable stampede of most people we (along with few others maybe 50) found shelter in the corridor of the Fort Palace where Capossela later came to sign some autographs + do some chat with us all.

He then proposed to play a couple of songs, with just his acoustic accordion and we were delighted of course …and then the magic happened because all his bandmates joined for an impromptu show in the corridor for us! I was (we all were) head over heels ecstatic! They played and improvised for a good 40mins: “Solo mia”, “Con una rosa” e “All’una e trentacinque circa” were two of the songs performed and I am sorry I cannot remember all the others…

(The moment when Capossela announced the concert had to be stopped because of the heavy rain)

(Vinicio Capossela going acoustic with all his band after the canceled gig due to heavy rain)