Ezio – The Pitcher, Düsseldorf; November 17th, 2019
For a while I thought I wasn’t going to see Ezio this year, because none of their tourdates fit my busy schedule and then a show in Düsseldorf on a Sunday was announced. Perfect! It took place at a small, cozy bar, with a lovely staff and great decorations. The stage and the place had just the right size and was nicely filled. Aundience and band were in a great mood and it was an entertaining evening.
Arriving around six was too early and I was happy they let me in already. They had tea too so I could get warm before the gig. A few more people arrived around 30 minutes later and we chatted, but the bar didn’t fill until around 7:30. There were lots of familiar faces in the crowd and by 8 we had all gathered in front of the stage, drinks in dand, waiting for the band to start.
They didn’t make us wait long, stepped on stage and started with ’30 and confused’ – immediately everyone was singing along loudly, especially those of us who are long past thirty (and probably still as confused as we were then). Booga has a barstool to sit on and Ezio told us that last time at this venue his feet weren’t OK and thus he had to play the gig solo. Now, however, Booga was in good enough shape to play and they gave us a great show. 🙂
Early on, they already asked for requests and someone wanted to hear ‘Drunk on my Bicycle’ so we got that. Somehow, that must have gotten stuck on Ezio’s mind, because later during the show he spoke about spending much time in Germany and some of the strange rules we have like taking away your driver’s license if they catch you drunk on a bike. “If they did that in England nobody would bother to go by bike. We’d just all take the car and get killed!” He also told a story of biking in Germany and running a red light, going past a car, which in turn sped after him and the driver rolled down the window yelling “Rot ist Rot” (red is red). I laughed extra hard, because it reminded me of Svavar Knútur’s stories about walking on the bike path in Germany. 😀
Ezio was in a talkative mood and shared with us how as a 12 year old he had watched a TV programme about a painter, who would cover beautiful women with paint and then press them against a canvas or wall. After that he dreamt about having a job like this, “pressing naked women against the wall” and joked that he never dared to express it as a career choice. Thus, he became a musician, “which is basically the same, just without the paint”. 🙂
We got a great selection of songs too like ‘Thin Line’ or ‘Hotel Motel’. The setlist felt unusual to me, as if they were adding a lot of songs they do not play that often, but then again I see them once a year, so how am I supposed to know? What I can say is that I thoroughly enjoyed the set and loved seeing and hearing them play. Booga seemed in pain at times and I felt sorry for him, because he had trouble walking. His fingers were fine though and he played brilliantly.
A few songs in, Ezio took of the glasses he was wearing telling us that he liked seeing his audience, but sweat made the glasses slip off so he’d have to go without them for the rest of the evening. We got a lot of banter too, like him telling someone to “not go to the toilet now” and then joking about what we might hear from there (as the toilets were to the side of the stage). Eventually that lead to a story about their band’s drummer going into the toilet with a fan and them having to explain to her friend in French (!) what they were doing in there – it didn’t go well. 😉
The biggest surprise was ‘Just to talk to you again’ in Italian. I had never heard Ezio sing in his native language before and it was beautiful. He should do that more often. We also got more requests like ‘Agony’ and the great ‘Shadow Boxers’. I had been wanting to hear that one for years, yet somehow always forget to ask when he wants to know which songs we would like to hear. He joked that half of the audience probaly had no clue what the song was. Some other requests he commented with “they are all from the same fucking album” and urged us to buy a few more for more variety. Right on! I would have loved to, but I checked and I owned absolutely everything they had brought this time.
As always, the audience was good at singing along, some people knowing each word to every song. I didn’t, but I did my best with the songs I knew. During ’59 Yards’ they aked us to follow them and sing the “One day you’re gonna die” line in different styles. We did and it all ended in giggles when Ezio was singing higher and higher and everyone tried to follow. I certainly cannot sing really high. Luckily, he can’t go all the way to the high C either. 😉
I had lots of fun during the show and whenever I looked around, people were smiling happily, so I would say they felt the same. Booga and Ezio looked like they were enjoying themselves as well. When someone asked for ‘The Further we stretch’ during the first half of the concert, someone else was like “that’s going to be the encore”. so far, it always had been. This night though, they did not play it and opted for ‘Angel Song’ instead. People always want to hear this one and it was perfect.
“We are going to play one last song”, Ezio announced and the launched into ‘Saxon Street’, another fan favorite, that someone had asked for. It was our last chance to sing with them and we did. I love that song and it made the smile on my face even bigger than it already was. There could not have been a more fitting closing song to the show. The guys set goodbye, announced their show in Bonn in December and wished us a Merry Christmas in case we could not be at that one. 🙂 Sadly, I had a train to catch and no time for a chat. See you next year guys.
Setlist (Incomplete)
30 and confused
Drunk on my Bicycle
59 Yards
Just to see you again (in Italian)
Agony
Hotel Motel
Braver than you are
Thin Line
Shadow Boxers
Indian
Angel Song
Saxon Street