Korn @ Alcatraz, Milan, March 18th 2012

Korn yes...Korn no...
last January my beloved one and I didn't know what to do. We knew about this Korn gig in Milan (the only one in Italy) in March, we knew that it was going to be sold out quite soon, but we were uncertain. In the end the YES party won, and yesterday, at about 2:30 in the afternoon, we were waiting in line outside Alcatraz, a disco that often becomes a crowded concert hall. We guessed right: the show was sold out and people of every age from all Italy were standing there in the cold with us.
At 6 security let us come in, one hour earlier than expected, probably because it was starting to rain.

Yeah, inside! I generally love the first line, when I manage to enter I wildly  start to run to be as close as possible to the band, but this time Davide and I opted for a "confort show": panoramic view from a kind of raised floor, next to the toilet and the bar, about 20 mt away from the stage. Perfect and away from some very drunken guys ready to mosh as demons! (not that I don't like pogo...the fact is that I prefer to enjoy the show, sing along, dancing by myself, screaming, etc).

The first surprise was the preshow! Jonathan Davis appeared on stage for one the of craziest, funniest and strangest dj set I've even seen: 30 minutes during which he has mixed and danced a kind of insane (and sometimes a little cacophonic) electro metal dubstep. His skill and his stage presence are amazing, I didn't expect him to be like this... more or less I would describe him as a pissed off version of Jack Sparrow :-) After JDevil (this is the name of Korn leader's alter ego), it was Dj Downlink's turn - again about 30 minutes of techno, or something similar to that. Not bad, even if most of Korn fans didn't show too much appreciation for this first part of the show.

At 9, finally, Korn performance starts. Hard to describe the power, the intensity, the energy it gave us all. The setlist, which I'll write here in a while, was extremely well calibrated: storic songs in the beginning, to warm up the audience; new songs, to make it dance; massive hits, to cause a kind of collective orgasm.

Once again, an incredible Jonathan Davis. Two hours of screaming and jumping all around the stage. You may say that this is his job, but I would add that he makes you perceive that he still likes it, maybe more than when he was younger.  I also have to add that my boyfriend and I were just amazed by the performance of the "new" Korn drummer, Ray Luzier. Technically impressive and also really kind, as we met him after the show. Jonathan and the oter guys disappointed me a little, it's still not clear if they disappeared immediately after the show in their tour buses or if they decided not to get out until fans hadn't stopped to wait for them. No pictured, no hugs, nothing. A pity.

I let you judge the setlist, please just don't tell me it was bad! :-)

01. Predictable
02. Lies
03. No Place to Hide
04. Good God
05. Narcissistic Cannibal
06. Kill Mercy
07. Chaos Lives in Everything
08. My Wall
09. Get Up!
10. Way Too Far
11. Here to Stay
12. Freak on a Leash
13. Falling Away From Me
14. Oildale
15. Another Brick in the Wall
-----
16. Shoots and Ladders / One
17. Got the Life
18. Blind

picture taken by us yesterday evening

John Carter - short review of the movie

Last Saturday night I decided to please my beloved one. How? It was up to him to choose our movie at the cinema. Generally this means a disaster evening for me, because he's a sci-fi and superheroes fan... things that make me easily bored. Anyway, in the end we watched "John Carter", a kind of epic sci-fi action romance.

"John Carter" is a Disney movie,  based on a classic novel by Edgar Rice Burroughs. Some articles and reviews I found on the net confirmed me what I already feared: it cost 250 million dollars. TOO MUCH. I often feel a kind of repulsion against movies which have ruinous costs behind them, from the beginning I can perceive I won't like them at all, it's like I already know they won't give anything, neither emotion nor aesthetic perfection.
I just give you 5 reasons (or advices...) why "John Carter" isn't worth watching. Then, of course, take your decision.

1) BORING. Never seen such a slow, jerrybuilt Disney's storyline. It alternates overstuffed moments in which you don't understand a damn to extremely tedious, uneventful fragments. The only nice thing is a martian dog which runs and smiles a lot, I would say it also represents a glimmer of "fun" in the whole film.

2) OVERLONG. It lasts 132 minutes. Unless you suffer from insomnia, it's really too much. Consider that, as I wrote at point 1, there are many slow scenes. Even soundtrack, most of the time, doesn't help.

3) SILLY. The script people, the script! Ok, it's a Disney movie, but it doesn't mean it has to be childish and disconnected! The Daily Mail described it as "ghastly", I find it hard not to agree.

4) USELESS 3D. It was used only to increase the price of the ticket. Only for that, because the only effect it gave me was pain in my eyes when I got out from the cinema. Special effects are good, impressive, nothing to say - but 3D is simply a waste.

5) BAD ACTRESS. Lynn Collins plays the role of the charming martian warrior princess Dejah Toris, as you can predict without knowing the story she will conquer the terrestrial main character. A gorgeous woman, but also a very little talented actress. Flat all the time. Monotone. Unexpressive at all.

Now, take your decision...but remember: you may waste more than two hours of your life.


(for the record, my boyfriend seemed to like it)
(but, I add, he sometimes has a very bad taste!)

Imaginearium, Nightwish

7 is an evocative and powerful number. Magic, fear, mystery religious and pagan suggestions are tunefully combined in it.
"Imaginaerium" is the seventh studio album recorded by Nightwish. Probably it's not an accident if it perfectly contain all these features.
"Imaginaerium" is once again a magnificent gift to a whole world of cultivated listeners, a product of Tuomas Holopainen's wild imagination. It seems (and in a lot of reviewers' opinion is) a concept album based on a dying man who reminds his youth through vivid pictures of snow winters and creepy episodes.

"Taikatalvi" is the first track of the album, the one with onerous task to introduce the public into this enchanted and ghostly world (which, believe me, will make you forget of yours for more than an hour!). Even if I don't understand a damn of the lyrics, and honestly I don't want to break the magic looking for the translation, this song totally captures me every time. Marco's voice abducts me and lead me to somewhere very far... in the north of course.

I couldn't imagine a better choice than "Storytime" as first single. Catchy but noisy, gentle in verses and explosive in the chorus, impossible to find it an ugly song. Orchestra plays a huge rolet, helping this ensamble of heavy and sweet to give an idea (also to the sceptics) of what Nightwish have become now.

"Ghost River" begins with a very resonating guitar, in general I would define it a little but less epic than the rest of the album's songs, but kinda heavier. More metal, less gothic, if you prefer. I interpreted like Anette plays the Good (the mother and the innocence at the same time) and Marco plays the Evil (the river who's looking for victims, the aware slayer). Strong enough to be appreciated also from non-Nightwish fans.

The most experimental track of the album is without any doubt "Slow Love Slow". Jazz-like, Anette becomes a 30ies diva with deep red lips, singing to his beloved one. I must admit this is not my favourite track of "Imaginaerium", but it's only due to my personal taste: I consider it a good song, well built and even better played and sung, and I don't skip it when I listen to the cd. Strange but enjoyable, after all.

"I want my tears back" was the second track, after "Storytime", who made me fall in love with this album. The pipes are an auditive orgasm, it's almost impossible not to try to dance when you listen to that part! Also from a lyrical point of view this song in one of the most meaningful ones, an hymne to the beautiful things of life: "Where is the wonder where's the awe - Where are the sleepless nights I used to live for- Before the years take me - I wish to see - The lost in me".

Another manifesto of "Imaginearium" is its track n. 6, "Scaretale". It's inspired by childish fears, Anette perfectly embodies through her voice a kind of "psychopathic evil sorceress", the children chorus is even more disturbing, while Marco 's introduction to the macabre Cirque de Morgue extremely well. From an emotional point of view you'll never get tired of this. Listen to this before falling asleep, in the dark, and you'll remind of when you, at 6 or 7 years old, watched that horror movie...the one who came back every night when you turned off the light.

First instrumental track: "Arabesque". Pleasant to hear, personally it reminds me a little bit too much of something else already heard (not from Arab but from another metal bands), anyway it constitutes a nice "break".

"Turn Loose the Mermaids" is one of the sweetest melodies ever. It makes me want to hug my beloved one. Anette's voice is charming, you can feel how much emotion she puts in this. I've always loved the former singer of the band, Tarja Turunen, but she could have never sung such a sweet lullaby like Anette does. Simply and beautifully, maybe with less technique, but surely with pure devotion.

"Rest Calm" isn't, in my humble opinion, an impact song. I personally didn't like it immediately, it took at least three or four listenings before I understood the marriage between the powerful, screamed in verses and slower, delicate in its chorus. I don't want to become repetitive but in "Imaginerium" Anette and Marco's voices mix good together, they female vs. male game sounds better than in every previous Nightwish album. They probably found a key or something. The result is great.

"The Crow, the Owl and the Dove": before I knew it, I guessed it was not written by Tuomas. It's not because I don't consider it a good song, don't misconceive me. It's just a totally different style. Maybe a genre that can be appreciated also by radios. I'm referring to Italy, where listeners generally don't want to try anything different from mass pop music...which this song is not, but it's also true that it's less heavy: it could, with a miracle, get a chance also in my country:-) After all it's not so strange that the band chose it as second single. Oh, the author is Marco Hietala by the way! Fantastic bassist, great vocalist (getting better and better through the years!).

When I listen to "Last Ride of the Day", I dream to be on a stage rockin' to it, as it's one of the funniest tracks to sing. "Sweet music, starry skies", will to celebrate life in a fast and dark carnival. Joy and disbelief to be able to forget your everyday worries. Try it to believe it.

"Song of Myself" leads the listener to the epic closing of "Imaginearium". It's very long, but I wouldn't consider it dull for this reason. The first minutes are charachterized by the nimble voice of Anette, absolutely at ease also in a track that I perceive as "shaped" on Tarja. The song becomes then more intimist, it continues with an acted part whose lines are so touching and deep. I'd really like to believe that their content is what Nightwish themselves really think and hope (and the same should do their fans).

With "Imaginaerum", the title track, we say goodbye to the enchanted world of winters, storytimes, riverghosts, mermaids and tears... it's a beautiful medley of all the tracks that compose the album, I think it's quite evident that it's inspired by movie soundtracks of the greatest composers of today's history  (among them I would name Morricone, Elfman and Zimmer). With a deep sigh I leave all this beauty behind...but it's just until the next udutive journey :-)

First, not least...

Nice to meet you, brave creatures who dared to enter in this sick corner!

My first post in here, no idea of what I can write to introduce myself to you, but nevermind: you'll find out, if you want, through all the suggestions, the comments, the opinions and the rubbish I will share here.

For the moment, thank you for spending some seconds or minutes here. Time is precious and company, also in its virtual form, is a gift to treasure.