A night to remember

A quote from Roger Waters I found out a few days ago reads: “The only important thing about music is whether it moves you or not“. That’s absolutely true.
In my previous post I talked about a band that makes moving music and whose sound, what a coincidence, has many points in common with some of the most emotional Pink Floyd. Well, yesterday I just jumped in my car, destination Milan, Rolling Stone club, to see Anathema live. I went there alone, but what a surprise in experiencing that I wasn’t really! I was in profound connection with all the 3000 people, thanks to the wonderful music played by the 5 men on the stage. I think that it’ll take a long time to see again such an intense and intimate show. It wasn’t the first time that I saw Anathema live, but it definitely was the best one so far. For those who know a little about them, here’s the setlist:

Parisienne Moonlight (Intro)
Deep
Closer
Far Away
Angels Walk Among Us (new)
A Simple Mistake (new)
Anyone, Anywhere
Empty
Judgement/Panic medley
Shroud of False
Lost Control
Regret
Hope
Temporary Peace
Flying
Are You There? (acoustic)
One Last Goodbye (acoustic)
Angelica
A Dying Wish (with a Pink Floyd intermezzo)
Sleepless
Hindsight (new)
Fragile Dreams

That makes 22 songs for more than 2 hours of music. And all the classics, none missing! (especially the Shroud Of False – Lost Control – Regret sequence was a killer one)
What a feeling to see Vincent moved to tears while singing One Last Goodbye, together with all the crowd! And, again, what a surprise to look around and see many people weeping as well, totally transported by the music!
A very special night, indeed. A night to remember.

Alternative 4 – A special 10 years celebration

10 years ago I stepped into my favourite CD shop. It was early summer, I was about to go on holiday. I was no more than seventeen, naive dreamer, keen on very, very heavy music. Was also 15 kg less and more handsome, but this doesn’t really matter.

I came out of the shop with what I would have discovered to be a breakthrough piece, not only in my musical, but also in my personal growth.

That was Alternative 4 by Anathema.

An ocean of sadness.

A storm of emotion.

A fresco of feelings.

Nowadays, I can hardly listen to this album. It’s really tough for me to stand all the emotions it still causes me. If it weren’t like that, I wouldn’t be dumb to the point of dedicating an entire post to it. But it was, is, and will be my alltime fave. Period.

But right now I’ll leave you all, jump on my car, put the disc on, drive around and weep for 45 minutes. Alternative 4 deserves it. Happy birthday!

“And sometimes I despair to who i’ve become
I have to come to terms with what I’ve done
The bittersweet taste of fate, we can’t outrun the past
Destined to find an answer, a strength I never lost
I know there’s a way
My future’s not set
But the tide has turned
And I still haven’t learnt
To live
Without
Regret”

Signs of life

Well well well. “The road to hell is paved with good intentions”, whoever said that? For sure, if you read my previous (and only, until today!) post, this witty proverb would suit me fine. One year has passed since I opened this little space, and many things have changed. Or rather, in the vein of Sysiphus, many things have returned as they were.

It’s one year that I’m back to Italy and the experience in the CERN-area now belongs to the past. It’s true, from time to time I’m back there and I can say that I did not lose the people that mattered to me. But back to Italy means also back to old habits and old routines, and it’s becoming ever and ever (once again) like the Sysiphus stone, always up and down the mountain. Guess who’s pushing it?

And what can I say about it? Just that I also lost the will to go on with this blog. Good intentions, indeed, this was one of them. But it feels like I’m doomed to eternal damnation.

Who knows why I’m here again. Today had nothing special coming my way. Maybe, even worse, some extra, unjustified anxiety I did not really need. But let’s keep the moment going and revamp this piece of web, brush away the cobwebs in the corners, and say something.

Precisely, this phrase circling in my head, just to close the loop and end with another quote.

“There is not enough time to do all the nothing we want to do” (Bill Watterson – Hobbes)

Pretty clear, isn’t it?

Tout a commencé aux pieds du Jura…

…and at last I’m joining the bloggers’ army too, inspired by the peace of this beautiful region between Switzerland and France, where I’m currently working for some months.

Maybe it sounds strange, me opening a blog. Maybe not. Anyway, I won’t care at all. After a couple of months abroad and on my own, I felt the need of a place where I could fix some impressions and thoughts I have been and will be bearing in mind during this period, and the things I’m realizing about myself, about people, about relationships, about life in general.

Being frequently overwhelmed by the streams of consciousness that I experience while driving in the relaxing countryside over here, while watching the snowy Mont Blanc from the balcony when the morning is clear, while returning home after a nice evening with my mates (when a bit of alcohol brings heavy reflections indeed!), while lingering on the sofa on lazy sunday afternoons, while swimming in the pool, while knowing new people from scratch, I thought it was just a pity to let them flow away with the impetuous waters of the Rhone. Thus, accepting the risk of seeming either gross or naïve, I choose to go catching butterflies, and to pin them down on these pages.

For sure, this effort will be miles away from intellectual honesty, and inevitably relative to my own perception. But, again, I won’t care. I won’t force myself to be original. Neither I’m going to make this place a temple for practicing the cult of my personality. I just want to speak my mind as much as possible, and that’s it.

Before leaving, some Q&A (even if you probably won’t have any questions at all)…

First of all, why writing in English and not in Italian? There are many reasons for that, but maybe the most important one is that I want to make it accessible almost to anyone, including the people I knew here in the CERN-area (let’s call it like this… I’m just pissed off by explaining everytime “yeah I work in Geneva, but precisely I’m not in Switzerland, I actually live in France, very close to the border…”).

Then why “A Modern Sysiphus”? Well… apart from self-referencing (some of you actually know why, and, of course, it occurs also in the subtitle)… I have always been quite keen on Greek Mythology, and many times I find myself feeling much like Sysiphus, carrying this untimely burden up the hill just to see it scramble down again. The world runs faster and faster (at last you got the reference!) and the things you patiently build in time suddenly seem pointless, to a certain extent. And there’s always something beyond, that you cannot catch in all of this, and that everybody else seem to understand very easily. Or maybe they just try. And maybe these pages can be as well a space of rest for Sysiphus, laying down his stone for a moment, ready to start again.

So, see you all at the next stop. Seems to be somewhere, but not here…