Tutto Bene

LOCATION: Bologna, waiting to board train to Verona
Last night's show: Bologna (Palamalaguti)

Setlist:Elderly Woman, Do the Evolution, Animal, Severed Hand, Given to Fly, World Wide Suicide, Save You, Even Flow, I am Mine, Marker in the Sand, Green Disease, Daughter/Italian It's Ok, Alone, Whipping, Present Tense, Comatose, Porch
1st Encore: Black, Betterman, Life Wasted, Alive
2nd Encore: Bu$hleaguer, Why Go, Baba O'Riley, Indifference

The circumstances that begun and ended last night's show were a nightmare! The venue in Bologna was way out of the city center--it's location reminded me of Continental Arena in East Rutherford. People say it's still considered NYC but it's not....and Palamalaguti was not in Bologna! There was a shuttle bus that had special services to and from the show. We got our tickets and started to wait on line to board it around 5 pm and thought it would give us plenty of time to arrive for 10c entry. Well, we didn't take into account that there would be a mob of people with our same plans in mind. There was one bus every 20 minutes and we couldn't get on the first one because it was jammed - worse than the 6 train at rush hour. After waiting for 20 Italian minutes, which roughly translates to about 35 real minutes, we were finally able to get on one. Between the traffic, the distance and the rain, we didn't make it to the venue until 7pm. When we got our wristbands and went to the 10c gate, we were told it was closed and had to go in with the non 10c ticket holders (psssh, don't they know who we are!?!?;) The line to get into the gate was ridiculous. There was one door open per gate, a massive amount of people and it was beginning to pour. It took us at least 45 minutes to get in and by the time we did, MMJ was almost done with their set.

Palamalaguti is enormous. It feels like a stadium when you walk in and I thought there was no way it would get filled to the end. I had decided that I wasn't going to be neither up front nor in the middle. My experience in Buenos Aires dictated that and I wasn't about to feel that crushing sensation again. I made my way up front but to the side, where I had a sliver of a stage view. When the lights went down and Master/Slave came on, the place erupted. The audience started their soccer chant, which is the same as in Switzerland (oooooooooohhhhhhhhh) and when the band appeared, Ed got to his mic and chanted with them.

Elderly Woman opened the show and the audience pretty much took over the beginning of the song. It felt as if every single person in the now fully packed arena was singing along. I made my way further up until I reached a side gate and stayed there through DTE, but because I had absolutely no view, I decided I'd try and sneak upstairs to the side seating area. I passed the gate and was making my way in when I was stopped by a guard. Now, because I speak Spanish I can toy around with Italian and have been doing so up until now. But with this guy, I thought I'd play a doesn't-have-a-clue tourist. After a brief interaction, I managed to convince him to let me in (nothing a smile can't get you in Italy!). When I got in, everyone was on their feet in the aisle and on the rail, and again, I could not see anything. When I looked to my left, I saw none other than Mirella, who helps run Bugs. I had never met her but I had seen her picture. I slowly made my way over to her and asked her if she was who I thought she was and she said yes. I told her I was Wanda from New York and she gave me the biggest hug and invited me to join her and Dennis. I wedged myself between them, and finally, I had a GREAT view.

Everyone thought the show was incredible. For some reason, I had preferred Bern's first set to this one, but the crowd was overwhelmingly louder tonight. Looking out into the sea of people on the floor was incredible and scary at the same time - whenever a really hard one would come on, the swaying was almost too much to bare.

Before Even Flow, Ed took a moment to speak to the audience, grabbing his Italian 'cheat sheet'! Judging from their reaction, they loved whatever it was he said. They went right into the song after that, and like with most well-known songs, the audience exploded. When Daughter came on, I was really hoping for an 'It's Ok' tag, and when we heard the opening notes, Mirella and I looked at each other with a child-like grin. When I saw Ed grab his sheet, I knew we were going to get it in Italian as he did in Spanish in Mexico City last year. When it started, he looked at his sheet and sang, 'Tutto bene,'. He then pointed to the audience and repeated, 'Tutto beneeeeee'. It didn't last too long and I wasn't sure the audience was really familiar with it! The 2nd encore opened with Bu$hleaguer and Ed came out with his mask, his glitzy jacket and his cigarette - the fans LOVED it. Other than the costume, the best part of the song was when everyone sang together, 'the haves have not a fucking clue.'

The highlight for me was, of course, Indifference. I wasn't thinking about it at all, when after Baba O'Riley (just like at East Rutherford) Jeff took his seat and strung the opening bass. I got the same feeling as last time, and I leaned down and told Mirella that this was my favorite song. After the crowd sang the last verse, she glanced up at me and all she could say was, 'I'm so happy for you...'

The ride back was as much of a nightmare as getting in. By the time we found the shuttle stop it was about 11:30 and it was cold and raining. For whatever reason, the bus company decided to send one bus at a time despite the throngs of people waiting to get on one. Everytime one would pull up, everyone would rush and push their way on. What I feared would happen at the show, ended up happening in the parking lot! We must have missed at least three more buses and were waiting until 1:00 am. By that time, I was soaking wet and freezing, refusing to get in a cab because I knew it would be insanely expensive (and there is no farina here). A handful of us waited while a bus rep sat in his car, warm and dry, barely giving us details.

I finally got back to my hotel at 1:30, and it's safe to say that I have no desire whatsover to ever return to Palamalaguti.