In Messina “certain nights” are special: Ligabue makes the whole “PalaRescifina” dance

John

By John

Between stage and reality, with the flu behind us and a great desire to go back to screaming at the sky. What a night at PalaRescifina, one of those “certain nights” that are set in the album of memories. For many reasons. Two above all: the reopening of the Palasport after years and the return to Messina, after 4 years, of La Liga. The rocker from Correggio has therefore returned to the shores of the Strait with “Dedicated to us” tour, with that us that sounds like everyone else. An album that arrived three years after “7”: the longest time in his career dedicated to the making of a record. Because Liga wanted to return to the stage at all costs with a new tour, but this time, after the pain, loneliness and confusion of the pandemic, he felt the need to return to the spotlight, after having celebrated thirty years of career, with a “community” album, of stories, contemporary in which acceptance, even of one’s own limitations, is one of the great red threads that bind the songs. Two hours and more of concert which gave the people of Messina and beyond (many arrived from Sicily and also from Calabria) many emotions, including new songs, old hits and some gems that Liga hadn’t done in a long time.


The double concert in Reggio Calabria on Monday and Tuesday marked the resumption of the tour, after health problems (the stages in Rome, Eboli and Bari were postponed), yesterday Ligabue crossed the Strait for the two-day match in Messina (repeat tonight). And it’s a simple meeting because his is a story that never gets old, it’s a story that follows the Via Emilia and is corroborated between Lambrusco and popcorn when there are already over 850 live performances behind it.

Last night’s stage of La Liga also marked the “historic reopening” of PalaRescifina which after many years returns to host a concert, returning to the circuit of music locations. The Franco Scoglio stadium is now a fixed appointment for many big names in Italian song (five concerts are planned in the summer), the “PalaRescifina” aims to become one from this year with a profound update of the structure to the strict safety regulations of the facilities that must host 4000 or more spectators. The commitment of the municipal administration, with the mayor, in recent months has been maximum Federico Basile in mind that he has always believed in the project by gathering input from local promoters, starting with Lello Manfredi, which for years has been spent on the reopening of the facility and with large event companies to give credibility to the city of Messina.

That’s why the live – with Fede Poggipollini (guitar), Niccolò Bossini (guitar), Max Cottafavi (guitar), Luciano Luisi (keyboards), Ivano Zanotti (drums) and Davide Pezzin (bass) – it is a journey that retraces his personal story, the one that Liga knows how to tell in his songs, but which at the same time can represent the story of each of us, where everyone can recognize themselves in their own pain and in their own serenity.