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Premiata Forneria Marconi (PFM) - PFM & Pagani - Piazza Del Campo CD (album) cover

PFM & PAGANI - PIAZZA DEL CAMPO

Premiata Forneria Marconi (PFM)

 

Rock Progressivo Italiano

4.05 | 61 ratings

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Ivan_Melgar_M
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator
5 stars Even though the package comes with CD and DVD, I will dedicate this review exclusively to explore the DVD, being that for the first time I have the chance to see the great Italian band with Mauro Pagani and Lucio Fabbri playing together with a competent string quartet in the background and sincerely what a tremendous show.

PFM are like the wine, the older, the better, they play as if they were 20 years old but with more experience, they capture the audience, mostly formed by young people, some of whom probably never saw PFM before but all of them with the older fans are jumping, clapping and enjoying together this great show.

Won't enter in many details of the songs because all have been largely reviewed in the original release but they added so many new things that have to be mentioned.

The band starts, with the amazing Classic/Baroque introduction called "Rain Birth", with Premio in the pianoli, Mussida witha n acoustic guitar and Pagani playing violin plus flute make a fantastic job, I wish it could last longer, but as I said before it's only an introduction for "The River of Life" which is the perfect complement that proves how well this guys can blend Classical and Rock without sounding like something artificial, but instead flows gently as if both genres were meant to be played together.

In "Photos of Ghosts" the star is Premoli who does an outstanding Jazzy piano work and adds his vocals still with strong accent, but who cares, after so many years we are used to it.

In "La Carrozza di Hans" the star is Mauro Pagani, who also takes the lead vocals but Franz Di Cioccio almost steals the show with his strong drumming.

Apart of it's natural beauty, "La Luna Nuova" sounds incredible because Fabbri and Pagani show a spirit of cooperation rarely seen in two musicians who play the same instrument, when one plays the violin, the other stops but when Fabbri gets his turn with the violin, Pagani supports him with the flute, incredible show at this point.

"Si Puo' Fare" gives us the chance to listen Piero Pelú on the vocals, the guy has a great voice, but sounds out of place in PFM, the advantage is that the track is one of the weakest, this time supported by Di Cioccio in the vocals while Roberto Gualdi takes the drums.

"Promenade The Puzzle" is a song that never convinced me, but the guitar intro of Franco Mussida is extremely beautiful, so it alone pays for the track

"Siena Violin Jam"n is almost a friendly contest between Fabbri and Pagani, each trying to do their best with Patrick Djivas playing in the bass a constant chord, which if I'm not wrong is a modification of "Heaven's on their Minds" from Jesus Christ Superstar, excellent exhibition of virtuoso performance.

Now, the "William Tell Overture" is a classic in PFM repertoire, but this time done with two violins is better than ever, probably the best version I ever heard of this song by the Italian icons of Prog.

The show is closed with the breathtaking "E' Festa" (Italian version of Celebration), and it's the chance for them to do what they want and show how much they still enjoy the stage, in an acrobatic movement Gualdi replaces Di Cioccio in the drums, Di Cioccio makes the crowd sing and everybody has a good time, very nice closing for a real "Celebration".

A must have for any fan of Premiata Forneria Marconi with a double advantage, you can enjoy the DVD at home and the CD in your car, five solid stars for one of the best DVD's I ever seen.

Ivan_Melgar_M | 5/5 |

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