Posted on March 28, 2010 - by Mark Zonda

Dead Can Play – Tre Allegri Ragazzi Morti Live Show

Some of you may not be familiar with a band called “Tre Allegri Ragazzi Morti”, if not for an Italian version of  Art Brut “My Little Brother”, or Smiths “Ask Me” turning out to be “Dimmi”. These two songs particularly became some kind of  official versions of these important pop classic in Italian as long as they picked as references from other Italian bands when played live, together with “Occhi bassi”, a catchy successful tune with lyrics of its own. These couple of hits and the passion for the guitarist and singer Davide Toffolo for comics lead this band to be quite popular in Italy underground in early ’90s, where alternative youth was obsessed withJapanese comics (the band plays with skeleton masks on the face and is often represented in comics years before Gorillaz arrived in the rock circus but way too long after The Archies) and Italian punk revival reemerged because of pulp culture and movies like “Jack Frusciante è uscito dal gruppo”.

First time I’ve seen “Tre Allegri Ragazzi Morti” live I was hit by their real age. They kept on singing for years the portrait of the most intimate secrets adolescence pulses in decadent urban scenarios while the men where protected from ageing by their plastic masks of undead skulls. I must that, just like anyone being introduced to Mr. Dorian Gray, I felt myself a little bit tricked, if not for all that poetry and rage kept alive, aloud and roaring with nativity and passion. That’s what I missed on their last tour. The band did improved a lot, and they’re a little kick-ass lethal weapon when it comes down to rythmics and guitar strolls, still there’s not even more a trace of a heartbeat behind the masks. You choose who’s to blame: an audience that the band scolded for being more dead than alive; the introduction of reggae music on their style; their not comprehensible need to drag politic and commitment into their songs in order to keep a hook on a young niche. All these deadly factors was successful in bringing my memories back to 1990, still the impression was hearing Subsonica picking songs from Modena City Ramblers repertorio. A kilometric playlist I did exchanged for a lyrics sheet for the longness of the titles and a sequence of  rituals including the almighty driven hand clapping and people saying “Fuck Off” to the frontmant in order to have him back to stage, contributed to get a little bit bored after more than an hour and an half of show and two enchore. Eddie Argos cover hit the lowest moment in my expectations, being forced to compare that puppet show to the uncontrollable energy and enthusiasm of an Art Brut live show.

What was left? Well, just like in Flaming Lips concerts the impression of being on a theme birthday party rather than in a rock show, thanks to mouse and skeleton masks and happy tunes and some great old classics that will always made us love the band, no matter how mediocre will be their production in the future.

The show was opened by “Cioccolata Fondente”, a young band from Ravenna with great potential considering their attitude and their young age (but they could also disappear into the big void in nanoseconds, who knows when you’re dealing with the uncontrollable power of youth). Telling the truth the firts moments of the show was all an up and down of expectations and failures to me. First of all because I did expect that people from Bronson would have served hot choccolate along with Red Bull, for some unknown inexplicable reason. Then, when I was ready to jump and shout for a miracle blessing the holy Elephan 6 Collective God. As the white smoke monster went down the stage and a bagpipe started to play to introduce a quasi all-girl band while a narrating voice was de facto bringing meta theatre to the show, and this chanteuse stepped in charming, alien and mysterious Halloween Jack ways  like Bowie in his disco ’70s, I was really close to call it a miracle. Then they started to sing (or trying to), and all my expectations where blown away like a castle of card on the sequences of an Ok:Go video.

Anyway, it was a long interesting night surrounded by a quite appealing crowd of average teen geeks and geequettes. Why are they listening to the same songs? Another night with our heart on the sleeve. Ican’t believe I’m now back to back with… “the Replacements”!

• Cioccolato Fondente + Tre Allegri Ragazzi Morti | Live @Bronson 2010 Pics
• Cioccolato Fondente | Live @Bronson 2010 Clip
• Tre Allegri Ragazzi Morti | Live @Bronson 2010 Clip 1-2
• Tre Allegri Ragazzi Morti | Live @Bronson 2010 Clip 3
• Tre Allegri Ragazzi Morti | Live @Bronson 2010 Clip 4
• Tre Allegri Ragazzi Morti | Live @Bronson 2010 Clip 5
• Tre Allegri Ragazzi Morti | Live @Bronson 2010 Clip 6
• Tre Allegri Ragazzi Morti | Live @Bronson 2010 Clip 7
• Tre Allegri Ragazzi Morti | Live @Bronson 2010 Clip 8
• Tre Allegri Ragazzi Morti | Live @Bronson 2010 Clip 9

Tre Allegri Ragazzi Morti – “Bella Italia”

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