Rocking the RAH

A little more than four years ago, Zucchero played the legendary Royal Albert Hall in London to celebrate the release of ZU & Co. That night, with thirteen guests, among them Eric Clapton, Brian May, Solomon Burke, Tina Arena, Paul Young and Luciano Pavarotti, joining Zucchero on stage, will always remain one of those classic “I was there” shows.  So when it was announced last year that Zucchero would return to the RAH, two questions were on our minds; would this show live up to the 2004 show, and would any of Zucchero’s mates show up for a jam session.

And to answer these questions: nope there were no guests (though the wonderful Sharon Corr did play along in Dublin on friday), and yes, it was right up there with 2004. With a band that keeps on getting tighter and tighter, and a whopping 27 songs, sunday’s Royal Albert Hall show was nothing like the surprise fest of four years ago, but it was an excellent showcase of what Zucchero has been delivering this tour.

 

From the very first sounds of Iruben Me, with Mario Schiliro’s guitar and Zucchero’s voice howling through the song, to You Are So Beautiful, with Zucchero accompanied only by David Sancious’ piano, the Albert Hall was captivated. And while it took Solomon Burke for the Hall to finally explode in 2004 in a fiery Diavolo in Me, this time around (helped by the countless Italians who came to see their man) everybody was on their feet from the first sounds of Bacco Perbacco.

Meanwhile, throughout the gig, the band showed they are at the top of their game this tour; Kat Dyson (ramming her guitar during Solo una sana or doing wonderful backing vocals during Cosi Celeste), ‘reverend’ Polo Jones (with an extra long sermon and some bass-in-the-air-throwing), Adriano Molinari, David Sancious and Mario Schiliro played with apparent ease and joy, while the addition of the horn section (with James Thompson shining with his solo’s in Cuba Libre, Blue and Il Mare, and Massimo Greco in Everybody’s got to learn sometime) gives songs like Pippo and Con le Mani some extra flavour.

So no surprises last sunday in London, but (yet again) proof that Zucchero and his band can take down any concert building they wish, and that if you have the chance of seeing them perform during the next few months, you really, really should.

Setlist:

Iruben Me / Occhi / Tutti i colori della mia vita / Bacco Perbacco / Amen / Cuba Libre / Il Volo / Blue / Diamante / Cosi Celeste / Baila (sexy thing) / Overdose (d’amore) / Il mare… / Everybody’s got to learn sometime / Nel cosi blu / Miss Mary / L’Urlo / Con le Mani / Pippo / Solo una sana… / Diavolo in me / Encore 1; Hi de Ho / Menta e Rosmarino / Miserere / Encore 2; Senza una Donna (Without a Woman) / X colpa di chi? / Encore 3; You are so beautiful

The wonderful pictures shown in this post were made by our friend Giovanni Pagani. For more of his RAH pics, see here, for pictures of friday’s Dublin show, see here.

Tags: Adriano Molinari, All the Best, Beppe Caruso, David Sancious, Fornaciari, James Thompson, Kat Dyson, London, Mario Schiliro, Massimo Greco, Polo Jones, Royal Albert Hall, sugar, Tour, United Kingdom, Zucchero