A concert at the end of the world, where the Arco del Meloncello becomes a door overlooking the underworld, and in the background battered by the incessant rain the Celebrazioni Theater located in via Saragozza in Bologna dominates. Following the cancellation of the Italian stages in 2023 due to personal problems of one of the members, there was anticipation for the only Italian date of Lankum, a constantly growing avant-folk group from Dublin, located within the framework of the Barezzi Way. Between drone experiments, the folk-punk typical of the Pogues and traditional Irish music, the group has come into the spotlight above all thanks to the latest, acclaimed publication “False Lankum” (2023), in addition to its intense performance at festivals like Primavera Sound.
The group's forty-five minute delay does not bode well, and the anxiety grows even more knowing that the city is slipping under water starting from Via Saffi (an area not too far from the venue), as has already happened on several occasions due to bad weather, from the flood of May 2023 to today.
The curtain finally opens on the crescendo that incorporates viola, acoustic guitar, bagpipes and bajanand the powerful flashes of light that gradually take over Radie Peat's voice in the imposing version of the traditional “The Wild Rover”, which is followed by an initial brief thank you from the founding multi-instrumentalist Ian Lynch. The latter meshes with the dark dances of “The New York Trader”, which see the combative violin of Cormac Mac Diarmada as the great protagonist, supported by the clapping of the audience.
We move on to the direct lyrics of the new and intense “The Rocks Of Palestine”, a reworking of the folk song “The Rocks of Bawn”, with which the band renews its front-line support for the Palestinian people, highlighted symbolically also by a keffiyeh resting on Ian's equipment (and another on the desk merch located at the entrance), continuing with the harmonic choirs of “The Young People”, included in the prestigious “The Livelong Day”. Peat's speech in perfect Italian is surprising, revealing that he had also lived in the Bologna city in the past.
The solemn voices that emerge from the mists of “The Rocky Road To Dublin” are linked to the flashes and vortices of the atmospheric and evocative “The Pride Of Petravore”, the jewel in the crown of the Dubliners' show, just a moment before the fatal but predictable cold shower. Our team only have another ten minutes available, then they will be forced to close up shop: there is the risk of serious damage to the electrical system due to the ongoing flood, and obviously among the worst-placed areas there can only be Costa -Zaragoza. The first to be dismayed and disappointed by the situation are the musicians, forced to cut a third of the setlist. The “stepmother” nature, however, cannot deprive the public of the pair of aces “Go Dig My Grave”, characterized by a long sinister and highly evocative coda, and “Bear Creek”, the last cathartic dance.
All that remains is to laboriously return to one's homes, bundled up, thoughtful and with a bitter taste in the mouth, doing the slalom (in some cases in pitch darkness, a factor which together with rain and wind creates the perfect combination to better mull over a new daily life that bears a single definition: climate crisis) among actual rivers that have taken the place of roads.
(Photo by Andrea Amadasi)
Antonio Santini for SANREMO.FM
