Venue: Arena Alpe Adria / Lignano Sabbiadoro / Italy
Concert date: 04.07.2009
Attendance: 2000
Ticket price: 35 eu
Chickenfoot is a star-studded lineup of veterans made up of Joe Satriani, Chad Smith (Red hot chilli peppers) and fifty percent of Van Halen (Sammy Hagar, Michael Anthony), who, after Van Halen recruited David Lee Roth again for their recent US tour, were surprisingly cut loose by the band, with Anthony getting the boot too. But if Eddie, Alex and company couldn’t muster the courage to cross the pond this year, that definitely doesn’t go for Chickenfoot, who already blew away the Rockline crew, along with thousands of other music-hungry listeners, at the recent Nova rock festival. This time we caught them in the glitzy Italian seaside resort of Lignano Sabbiadoro, which boasts the most beautiful beaches in Italy, and the venue lived up to that too: a gorgeous amphitheater built in the style of the ancients, gracing the sprawling park next to the town hall, whose stage the Chicken Talons took over at twenty to ten.
The album Chickenfoot recorded and released a few weeks ago is, despite its enviable production and even better performances, still a bit monotonous and predictable on record, but live it sounds completely different. That comes down mostly to the incredible energy the band members radiate and generate, plus a level of physical fitness and vocal flexibility that’s enviable for their age. With their acrobatics, Hagar and Anthony serve up the best of the Van Halen era, Smith’s trump cards are his skill and that touch of Keith Moon madness every good drummer has to strut around with, and as for Satriani, there’s really no need to waste words anyway. If anyone can stand next to Hagar without fear and slip into Eddie’s shoes without an inferiority complex, it’s definitely Satch. His supersonic blues extravaganza has no use for playful and by now outdated tapping, and his sound, which is far more consistent and a bit grittier than Van Halen’s, complements Hagar’s voice much better. Sammy is in great form too, since his vocal cords still hit the ranges we know from the albums 5150 and Live right here, right now without any trouble, which is nothing but praise.
In just under two hours Chickenfoot played the whole album (from Avenida revolution, Soap on the rope and Sexy little thing all the way to Future in the past), seasoned with a few shorter covers and the obligatory solo spots, in which Hagar joined Satriani on guitar. The ballad Learning to fall also took on entirely new dimensions live, taking us back to the best years of Satriani’s solo career and bringing back fond memories of the songs Always with me, always with you and I believe. For the encore, which Sammy kicked off with the sounds of a zither-like electric instrument, Chickenfoot gave us one more song, Bad Motor scooter, found on the debut album by Montrose, the band where Hagar started his musical journey, and then the stars took a deep bow and said goodbye to Lignano. The show they put on that evening, despite the not-exactly-lavish lighting and the lack of pyrotechnics and other visual gimmicks, stunned even the old concert cats. If a band can create an atmosphere that you could probably best sum up in one word as ecstatic with nothing but their presence and their instruments, then everything else is simply unnecessary.
After the show, the Rockline crew, following a long trek around the huge park, finally found the hidden, strictly guarded gate leading through tall hedgerows to the backstage area. There, along with a handful of other fans, we waited in vain for a photo session and a handshake with the musicians, who, just past midnight, climbed like true Hollywood stars into spacious limousines with tinted windows and sped off to their hotel for a well-earned rest. The one bright exception was Satch, who had carefully shuffled over to the fence, where his fans were calling for him tirelessly, and generously signed a few autographs through the bars. That’s just the price of fame, though it’s a shame that it’s usually the real fans who end up paying it.
Photos: Barbara Milharčič
Setlist
1. Avenida Revolution 2. Soap On A Rope 3. Sexy Little Thing 4. Oh Yeah! 5. Runnin’ Out 6. Get It Up 7. Down The Drain 8. Bitten By The Wolf 9. My Kinda Girl 10. Learning To Fall 11. Turnin’ Left 12. Future In The Past 13. Bad Motor Scooter
Photo gallery
