Article by Umberto Scaramozzino
The last time I saw an artist playing on stage wearing the Italian national football team t-shirt was Eddie Vedder at the San Siro Stadium in Milan. At that time, however, we still went to the World Cup, so much so that it was a good omen gesture for the national team match that would be played before Pearl Jam's evening concert. Eddie unexpectedly took to the stage, alone, in the heat of the early afternoon, wearing a blue t-shirt and a guitar to sing “Porch” and let us know he was rooting for us. We then lost the match, but what a beautiful memory to cherish.
Today he wears that same shirt Richard Ashcroftincredulous at our umpteenth failure to qualify for the most followed sporting event in the world. From good wishes we move on to consolation, but in fact it is easy to find comfort in a repertoire of this kind, with a performer of this caliber. Richard is not only one of the warmest and most exciting voices in British rock, but also one of its best pens.
But let's go in order: we are on the last day of the first weekend of The First Summer. THE Wombats have already given the most carefree live of the festival, i Libertines they have already done their homework (pity, in the last live shows they had offered much better performances) and Mr. Ashcroft is the most awaited guest of the day. He arrives with his typical contagious energy and immediately gives a sensational hat-trick, all coming from the short but dazzling career of his The Verve: “Weeping Willow,” “Sonnet,” and “Space and Time.” It's difficult to ask for anything better, especially with Richard proving to be extremely involved and in better shape than the last tours that saw him arrive in Italy in past years.
The band plays excellently, the volumes are once again excellent and well above the average of summer venues in our country. Nothing out of place, apart from perhaps a few too many long codas which double the duration of some pieces, taking away space for others that would have deserved a place in the set list. The latter is, moreover, the shortest among those proposed throughout his current tour, with just nine songs and a duration that barely reaches an hour and a quarter. Not that quantity is always that relevant, given that quality in this case is unquestionable. However, it's sad not to have heard a few more gems, such as “Velvet Morning”, usually included and warmly welcomed. Or like “History”, here mentioned only as a very short snippet before “The Drugs Don't Work” at the request of the public, while elsewhere it was proposed in full without any prompting.
After a moving “Lucky Man”, a world heritage site, comes what for many English people is in all respects the truth national anthem: “Bitter Sweet Symphony”, one of the greatest hits of the last century, which shows no signs of aging a single day. In addition to the thousands of people who fill the Bussola Domani Park in Lido di Camaiore, there is also an illustrious listener who just cannot give up this closure and leaves the backstage, bare-chested, to enjoy the moment on stage. The image of Pete Doherty which sways on the irresistible string riff that made The Verve immortal, is undoubtedly one of the highlights of the festival, of the summer, of the entire year.
All in all, the mutual heat exchanged between stage and audience is enough to put a beautiful seal on the final concert of this first chapter of La Prima Estate 2026 and to greet Richard Ashcroft with much affection. Hoping to see him again soon. Maybe before the next World Cup, but if we really have to wait another four years, we hope that our national team's t-shirt will once again become a wish and not just a beautiful consolation.
Daniel D`Amico for SANREMO.FM
