Le Orme and Banco del Mutuo Soccorso – Hanging Out with the Legends of Italian Progressive Rock (2012)

Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Photos: Aleš Podbrežnik

Location: Pordenone / Deposito Giordani / Italy
Concert date: March 24, 2012
Attendance: 1300
Ticket price: 25.00€

The Italian progressive rock scene has always been famous for a whole host of uncommonly gifted and artistically prolific bands. While many of them, mostly because of weak media attention, broke up after just one or two albums, a handful somehow managed to claw their way out of obscurity with rare stubbornness, persistence and vision, and make themselves noticed even on the international scene. Into that elite group of the chosen few who also found success on the other side of the Atlantic, besides the most celebrated Italian prog rock champions Premiata Forneria Marconi, fall two bands who are no less famous among prog rock connoisseurs: Le Orme and Banco del Mutuo Soccorso. We rarely get the chance to see either of them up close, and it’s an even bigger miracle when both play on the same night, so the moment we learned that the two legendary outfits were in the middle of a joint tour, we headed to Pordenone without a second thought. An hour before showtime the (mostly) Italian crowd was already packing the area in front of the hall. Unlike the meager Slovenian prog rock scene, which today, apart from a handful of jazz fusion enthusiasts, is practically nonexistent, Italians still hold the legacy of their pioneering bands in enormous esteem, bands whose music has always been a mirror of the Mediterranean soul. They treasure that musical heritage almost as much as the painting legacy of the Renaissance masters.

First up on stage, in a lineup that’s been thoroughly shaken up since their golden days, were Le Orme (in our translation, ‘Footprints’). Among prog rock connoisseurs they’re best known for the studio masterpieces »Uomo di pezza« (1972) and »Felona e Sorona« (1973). Despite plenty of ups and downs, they’re still active in the studio and on the road today, as their latest excellent studio release »La Via Della Seta« (2011) proves. It’s a concept album about the travels of Marco Polo, and besides a good number of longtime classics, the entire opening part of their set was dedicated to it. Although the only one left from the lineup that recorded the debut »Ad gloriam« (1969) is the rascally drummer Michi Dei Rossi, who kept up lovely contact with the audience the whole time, it doesn’t show in the slightest during the many virtuoso flights and the weaving of complicated instrumental sections. Le Orme are simply tight as a drum, and the sound was crystal clear, like it came straight out of a jewelry box.

Keeping Dei Rossi company on stage were longtime keyboardist Michele Bon, who replaced the legendary Tony Pagliuca in 1996, bassist Fabio Trentini, and two guest musicians: the seasoned singer Jimmy Spitaleri and the young guitarist William Dotto. Spitaleri, longtime singer of the equally cult band Metamorfosi, had the tough job of filling in for original Le Orme singer Aldo Tagliapietra. Still, nobody missed the latter, because Spitaleri is just as exceptional a singer, with a totally his own, operetta-like approach and an enviable vocal range. He and Dotto are currently only associate members, but it’s probably just a matter of time before the other three accept them as full-fledged Le Orme members. From the current studio album »La Via Della Seta« they played four songs: »L’ Alba dei Eurasia«, »Il Romanzo di Alessandro«, »Verso Sud« and »Una Donna«. As expected, the peak of the Le Orme set came with the performances from the cult album »Felona e Sorona«, where the instrumental grandmasters showed off their best qualities. That goes especially for the phenomenal version of the ‘Van Der Graaf Generator-ish’ »Sospensi Nell’Incredibile«, »Rittrato di un Mattino, »All’Infuori Del Tempo« and »Ritorno Al Nulla«. Once they’d played most of the classics from that legendary album, their solo set was over too, and thanks to that hypnotic dose of symphonic prog rock artistry and virtuosity, we stayed completely spellbound for a good while afterward.

Banco del Mutuo Soccorso, who in the end reaped even a bit more ovation from the crowd than their predecessors, are a related but still somewhat different story from Le Orme. Of the original members, only the charismatic singer Francesco Di Giacomo and the keyboard wizard Vittorio Nocenzi were there that night. The cult band, who became best known for the masterpiece »Darwin!« (1972), which also got the bulk of the evening’s performances, hit the stage almost immediately after the (temporary) departure of their longtime comrades. The charismatic granddad Di Giacomo, a lanky, white-bearded man with a piercing stare, mumbled his way through most of the concert, chewing on something the entire time he sang. Never mind the flat, offhand contact with the audience, though: his falsetto-crowned singing is still worthy of all admiration. Keyboardist Nocenzi, just like his brother and former band member, is a true keyboard fanatic when it comes to organ virtuosity, and therefore the key instrumental member of BDMS. His virtuoso mastery of the Hammond organ and various kinds of synthesizers, led by the Mellotron, kept an enviably epic mood going in the hall the whole time. Thanks in part to the flute, BDMS’s sound contains more folk elements, whereas compared to Le Orme they’ve always been much more marked by jazzy finesse. The Banco classics that drew the loudest response from the crowd were, unsurprisingly, »La Danza Dei Grandi Rettili«, »Moby Dick«, »Conquista Della Posizione Eretta «, »Evoluzione« and the closing »Tracia I«. The crowd was ‘eating out of the hand’ of Di Giacomo, Nocenzi, bassist Tiziano Ricci and the rest of the band the whole time.

The evening hit its peak when all the members of both bands gathered on stage and together belted out five songs packed with plenty of instrumental jams in between, with every instrumentalist also getting a short solo spot. Out of all the instrumental champions from both bands we saw that night, it would be very hard to pick a favorite, but in the end the laurel wreath would go to Vittorio Nocenzi, who was simply incredible in his virtuoso yet extremely sophisticated jostling through a sea of keys. It was fascinating to watch how the incredible virtuoso verve of the younger members fused in sync with the experience and stage charisma of the old tomcats. The latter showed not the slightest sign of fatigue, even though they crossed the sixty-year mark long ago. In the evening’s final act the old buddies played one classic apiece from the treasure chests of both bands, so in sequence we got to enjoy superb adaptations of standards like »Fino Alla Mia Porta« »Gioco Di Una Bimba«, »Sguardo Verso Il Cielo« and »Non Mi Rompete«. Most of the crowd sang along to the choruses almost nonstop.

This double bill of Italian symphonic prog rock masters spoiled us for almost four hours and, for a little while, whisked us back to some ‘long’ bygone, romantic era, when rock music became an equal, integral part of fine musical art and took its place alongside classical and jazz as an equal. Time doesn’t show on Le Orme and Banco Del Mutuo Soccorso in the least, because they age like good wine. What felt especially good during the show was the realization that, besides a legion of ‘greybeards’, the audience included an enviable share of young people who had chosen this double concert spectacle over a ‘rave party’ and an alcohol-soaked ‘bash’, so they could broaden their state of soul and spirit. That keeps alive the hope that new generations of listeners are slowly getting to know, rediscovering and increasingly appreciating the musical heritage of their fathers and grandfathers, even if for now that holds true only for our western neighbors and most other Western European countries that boast a rich progressive rock tradition.

Setlist

LE ORME:
1. L’alba Di Eurasia
2. Il Romanzo Di Alessandro
3. Verso Sud
4. Una Donna
5. 29547, L’Asteroide di M.P.
6. Cemento Armato
7. Sospesi Nell’Incredibile
8. Felona E Sorona
9. L’Equilibrio
10. Ritratto di un Mattino
11. All’Infuori Del Tempo
12. Ritorno Al Nulla

BANCO MUTUO DEL SOCCORSO:
1. Di Terra
2. Nudo
3. Cento mani cento occhi
4. Canto nomade per Il prigionero
5. La conquista della posizione eretta
6. L’evoluzione
7. 750.000 ani fa… l’amore?
8. La danza dei grandi rettilli
9. Moby Dick
10. Il ragno
11. Lontano da
12. Traccia I.
—encore—
13. R.I.P. (Requiescant In Pace)
14. Fino alla mia porta
15. Gioco di una bimba
16. Uno sguardo verso di Cielo
17. Non mi rompete

Photo Gallery