COME STA ANNIE?

Wow, what a trip! This DVD from Nichelodeon is really something great. It's the recording of a concert Nichelodeon performed last year, in which they played one set of songs from their 2010 album (Il Gioco Del Silenzio) and a live soundtrack to an episode of an episode of the show Twin Peaks. In addition, concertgoers were treated to a visual artist painting and, in quieter moments of the show, becoming a member of the band.

As with the other reviewers, I'm going to break this review up into the material from Il Gioco Del Silenzio and the material from the live soundtrack. First off for me is the songs from the album. Overall, the performances in this part of the concert were great. Claudio really got to let loose with his vocal performances overall, and for me his vocals were a big part of the first act. After the short introduction with the clip of the Pope, we get into the first track, "Ombre Cinesi." It was a very strong, fun introduction to the concert, and the wind instruments played by all the members were really great together. It set the mood for some of the more cacophonous moments to come later in the concert, and also set the bar high for me. Thankfully the DVD as a whole managed to meet and surpass that bar. The next track, "Apnea," is the only one which I preferred the album version of. Both are great, but I feel as if this performance was missing something from the studio version...not sure what. Anyway, after this the rest of the album track set really gets me up and moving. The band seems so together, so aware of what each other are doing during the following four songs - even during the often chaotic bits, they seem to be of one mind. The instrumentation throughout is really great and varied, pulling in everything from the expected instruments (guitar, bass, wind instruments) to the less normal (didgeridoo, for example). I found myself really grooving along with the band during these tracks, and really admiring the playing /singing by all of the members. I got a kick out of hearing the evil laughter in the background during "Malamore e la Luna". I'm still amazed by hearing some of the vocal range that Claudio manages to pull off...in this video, he wears a priest collar, and to me he was really a possessed priest - possessed by his will to bring us this great music.

The image of a possessed priest is enforced at the beginning of the Twin Peaks soundtrack session - Claudio has what looks like blood smeared around his mouth, and the vocalizations here are particularly chilling. After the Prologue, Claudio disappears from the front of the stage, and the majority of this part of the DVD is instrumental. Along with the musicians on the stage, the band had an extra member here as far as I'm concerned - the painter in front of the stage often added some extra percussive sounds which fit with the rest of the group. This part of the DVD really impressed me a lot. I'm not familiar yet with the Twin Peaks show (though I've wanted to watch it for a year or so now, this just added another reason). Still, the music played by the group really seemed to fit the visuals well here. The short snippets of other tracks ("Wake Me Up Before You Go Go" for example) were a bit of comical relief to an otherwise very tense, impressive group improv (correct me if I'm wrong). The music during this session of the DVD is, if possible, even more bizarre than the album tracks, which got me even more interested. They cover a variety of moods here, from chaotic insanity to somber moments. The band did a great job of syncing up their performance with the video, as well - for example, the buildup to the bank explosion, and the strange, chilling music in the scenes following it. I particularly enjoyed the way the music changed and evolved, getting more intense as the episode progressed...as I was getting more confused by what I saw on the screen, the music was getting more cacophonous and intense, a great combination.

As I've said earlier, I was really impressed by this DVD. The playing was great, the visuals were great, and overall the sound was well mixed. The only problem sound-wise for me was the percussion. Sometimes I found myself wishing I could hear his parts a bit more clearly, but usually I could hear all the instruments well. I'd like to congratulate Claudio and all of the other members of the group on a wonderful performance, which kept me waiting for more until it was all over. They are a band who really works well on stage, and the visual element adds a lot. I've never reviewed a DVD before, music or otherwise. I think I chose a great one to start with. This is even a stronger release than their recent album, and I'm pleased to reward the group with 5 stars fully earned.