Three hours of concert one could almost say starting from scratch: Renato Zero. To discover the new, twelve pieces from the latest album, but at the same time feel that pinch of regret because the extraordinary “old” is condensed into wonderfully arranged but dramatically short medleys. But on the other hand, one cannot fail to recognize the sincerity of the king of sorcini, an indelible trace of a career in which he never hid. He always laid himself bare. And he was sincere this time too, presenting himself with a tour that already in the name “Zero Hour” revealed the desire to start again, to take off what everyone knows and put on a new outfit. Which, to be honest, is not new, given the attempt to return to that intimate trace of the past.
So it doesn’t matter that in the new album Renato Zero runs into some songs that seem repetitive and don’t sound like the best performances. You forgive him because Renato Zero loves him regardless, because his rhetoric offers you ideas for looking at the world. And it also does it in Messina, at the PalaRescifina, in the first of four splendid nights (the encore tonight and then also on Saturday and Sunday) which is practically sold out. Not a simple concert, but in fact a collective ritual, a wonderful “bandwagon” 55 years long and full of messages, melodies and colours. The concert, produced by Tattica, is a real theatrical show, whose setlist proceeds by alternating present and past. The song choices outline the theme of the tour: the new beginning and this is why the Mother is the principle of everything and why the dignity of women must be protected and defended because it gives life and goes hand in hand with the need – more urgent than ever – to rediscover ourselves as men, not males. And Libera, the song written in 2001, on the theme of feminicide is one of the most touching moments of the evening with the written “Enough” which is worth more than any other word.
There is no shortage of messages on the Bridge (“Sicily is beautiful, especially without the Bridge. Because you have to earn the island, the gentlemen line up for the ferry”) and on the war (“We are going through a moment of great violence, we are all at the mercy of these five sons of bitches who have the destiny of humanity in their hands”). And then his songs, his dialogues, his being Renato. Also embellishing the show were the cameos of Gabriele Lavia and Luca Ward, in the symbolic roles of “Libero Pensiero” and “L’Ignoto”. At the end, the presence on stage of maestro Alterisio Paoletti, before the meedley “Più su / Amico / Il cielo” which takes us back to where it all began: his years, our years. Or more simply the best years of our lives.