Three times Peter Hammillthree times sold out, three times a unique emotion.
This is how he recounts for us Saturday's concert in Rome Giancarlo De Chirico of Xtm.co.uk
"There is a particular atmosphere, extremely attentive and collected, among those waiting in the hall for the start of the concert by Peter Hammill, vocalist of Van Der Graaf Generator, who returns to Rome this evening in a solo version, two years after the concert with his group. The extreme lyricism and talent of this musician have found fertile ground, especially in Italy, among the many fans of progressive rock auteurs, among those who are not satisfied with the banalities of Brit pop, eager to go beyond those well-packaged but distant musical products. In Peter Hammill's vocals, now delicate, now strong and poignant, in those songs that set existential dramas, separations and conflicts to music, one recognises an entire generation that, despite the passing of time, has not forgotten him. Around four hundred spectators fill the space of the Teatro Studio and immediately feel a jolt in their chests when Peter Hammill sits down at the piano and performs "My Room", one of his oldest songs, among the first from the post-Van Der Graaf Generator period. "How Could You Let It Happen?" cries Peter "How Could You Let It Happen?""A Better Time" and other old songs, all beautiful, telling of so many stories shipwrecked in the impossibility of facing the risk, the vertigo of true love "still I offer you my tenderness". Do you know of anyone or anything better? Poetry in music, for piano and voice, under the banner of a romantic lyricism that stands out even more as soon as we compare it with the empty superficiality of our times. A 'prèmiere' for the Roman public, a song that will be included in the new album soon to be released, and which he performs this evening for the first time ever. It is a song dedicated to his mother, who has gone on her last journey, the one we have to face alone, and every note is a caress, every vocal an act of love. Shortly afterwards Peter Hammill switches to acoustic guitar and, while sipping some mineral water, smilingly addresses his audience, "Gone are the days of tequila!" For those who don't know, Peter is recovering from a heart attack. He has now recovered well, but he has to be careful not to tire himself out too much and follow certain precautions in eating and drinking. Tonight, however, he does not spare himself, here are the notes of "The Birds", those birds that do not know which direction to take, that no longer know for whom and for what to sing, they are a bit like the protagonist of the song, chilled by the end of a love. Then there is 'Driven', 'Time For A Change' and the beautiful, complexly articulated 'Patient', a marvel for acoustic guitar and voice that sounded like it was being performed by an orchestra. Then Peter returns to the piano, performs "The Unconscious Life" and then, unexpectedly, beautifully, comes "A Way Out", one of the pearls of his latest production, the song of a man who feels uncomfortable in this society, outdated, unfashionable, relegated to the margins, out of everything, and who hopes to find at least in love a chance of redemption "I wish I'd say I love you", but without succeeding. A concert of yesteryear, a sincere and strong musicality, a passionate lyricism that beats on the keys of that piano as if it were a hammer, that aims straight at the heart and digs inside the most intimate sphere of each of us. "
This instead is the line-up for Sunday at Milan:
My Room
Curtains
A Better Time
Mean While
Gone Ahead
Amnesiac
Ophelia
Last Frame
Driven
If I could
Modern
4 Pails
Labour Of Love
Unrehearded
Fawly X
Stranger Still
