Fanmeetup / European tour summer 2004? December 18, 2003
Good news for the (Italian, sigh bastards! :D) members of the official Zucchero fanclub: a meet-up with other fans and Zucchero himself has been scheduled for saturday january 17th in Umbi´s studios in Polesella. If you´re planning on visiting the meet-up you´ll have to let the fanclub know on www.zucchero.it/fanclub.
Some good news for, European, fans: a German concert organiser (bottom of the page) mentions they´re working on a 2004 summer tour for Zucchero! Nothing official ofcourse, but we can dream :).
Shake: Australian version, Ahum w/ Tina Arena December 10, 2003
Another new Shake release (this year alone: US edition w/ dvd, Canadian edition w/ bonus cd, Argentinian edition and Mexican edition, both with Maná...) this time in Australia. Besides the normal tracks the cd will also contain a duet version of "Ahum" with Australian singer Tina Arena. When the cd will be released isn´t clear though: Universal Music Italia only mentions it WILL be released and Universal Music Australia doesn´t have it listed as an upcomming release (yet). Stay tuned!
46664: entire concert online December 8, 2003
Good news for those who missed it: you can watch the entire 4 hour 46664 concert online now on www.46664.com including stuff that hasn´t even been shown on ZDF. Zucch sings two songs (Everybody´s Got To Learn Sometime with Roger Taylor, Brian May and Sharon Corr and I want it all with Roger Taylor and Brian May) but don´t miss out on some of the other performances and Bob Geldof´s speech en introduction of Zucch!. While you´re at the site, download some of the artists tracks or donate some money!
World Peace Music Awards 2004 December 5, 2003
He was also supposed to be there this year in Bali but, like most big names, dropped out the last moment. For the World Peace Music Awards 2004 Zucchero is again mentioned on the 'invited' artists list to appear at the concert, this year in Vietnam. Other artists on the list include The Doors (the 21st century version), REM, Gloria Gaynor, INXS and Ziggy Marley, special guest include Robin Williams and Yoko Ono and, among others, Bob Dylan will recieve an award. The scheduled date is June 19 and will be broadcast on (mostly) Asian tv channels.
46664 pictures pt. 2 December 1, 2003
Ok, last post of the day :). Here´s some screenshots of Zucchero during the 46664 show taken from another Queen site (God bless ´em :) ).
Everybody´s Got To Learn Sometime:
I Want It All:
We Are The Champions / Long Walk Of Freedom: br>
46664 video / duet album December 1, 2003
Good news for those who weren´t able to see the concert live online or on ZDF this weekend (and since MTV/VH1 aren´t gonna show it, this is the best we have till the DVD will be released): you can download the video shown on ZDF of "Everybody´s got to learn sometime" (which btw is an 80´s cover song of a band called The Korgies) on this Queen site: http://www.mercuryparadise.com/hyper/MP-framenw.htm (click on "download" -> "video").
And some news on the duet album: in an interview with Italian newspaper La Stampa Zucchero has said that he still has one month of work left on the cd before it can be released, so no Zucchero-Christmas :(. In an interview with Il Giorno Zucchero also mentioned that Dave Stewart will be part of the album (besides, among others, Dolores O´Riordan, Mousse-T, Bono, Sting and Brian May) and that the title of the album, for now, is "Made of Stars".
46664 - the pictures December 1, 2003
Very little on the actual performance but here's some stuff anyway (some made by Brian May or Zucchero's official fanclub)
Zucchero with Bono
Zucchero with Peter Gabriel
Zucchero with The Edge
46664 - WOW! December 1, 2003
In one word: WOW!!!
An actual charity concert that was fun to watch! I'm amazed. Zucchero was absolutely A-MA-ZING. He played around the end of the show (last hour/ 40 minutes, right before the Eurythmics took the stage). Bob Geldof introduced him saying "These kind of do's are never complete without our friend from Italy". Zucch played, sitting behind the piano, "Everybody's got to learn sometime" (wonderful song!) together with Roger Taylor and Brian May of Queen and Sharon Corr of the Corrs. He returned about 20 minutes later during Queen's part of the concert for "I want it all". Both performances were amazing, one of the best vocal performances I've seen him do in the past two years, he left stage saying "protect yourself, use the condom". He was also very present during the 'group-song' "We are the champions" and the 46664 tune.
We'll post some more stuff (pictures, lyrics to Everybody's Got to Learn Sometime) later but for those who missed it, you can download the songs Zucchero worked on here http://www.unreal.co.il/46664/ (Everybody's Got To Learn Sometime, I want it all is part of the Queen medley).
46664 November 28, 2003
A little bit more info on the 46664 concert that will take place in South Africa tomorrow. It looks like Zucchero will be performing "Everybody's got to learn sometime" (a new song he already performed during the Canadian tour and which, most likely, will be included on the new album) and "I want it all" with Queen. The show will be broadcasted live online and on certain tv channels. For a list of all tv and radio stations broadcasting the show go to 46664.com and click on 'concert info' under 'concert'. The official site published some more pictures of Zucchero rehearsing.
46664 - broadcast details November 26, 2003
Some more info on when and where the 46664 concert will be broadcasted throughout the world. MTV will broadcast a compilation of the show (so most likely without any possible solo songs by Zucch, but who knows) in Europe on december 1st. MTV Europe will start at 21:00, the Netherlands at 21:30, Italy at 21:00, Germany at 23:00, Romania at 20:30, France at 23:00 and Spain at 21:00. In the US VH1 will broadcast a compilation on December 1st at 10 pm EST and MTV will broadcast the show a number of times after that too (December 1, 2 and 5). The show will be broadcasted live on German tv station ZDF starting at 1:00 ( and online on Tiscali (For more info on time differences check www.worldtimeserver.com).
Meanwhile Zucchero has arrived in Cape Town and has rehearsed with Queen. The official site published some pictures.
46664 November 24, 2003
Zucchero has arrived in South Africa to start rehearsing for the 46664 charity show on saturday. He will most likely perform one or two songs of his own and something together with Queen. There´s an interview with Zucchero about the project online on Ticali.it (http://musica.tiscali.it/download/ontop.php). The show will be broadcasted live online (through Tiscali) and on ZDF (from 1:00 - 4:00 on sunday morning). More info to follow.
46664/ Marco Figlie/ Michael Kamen November 20, 2003
Zucchero is currently in London for rehearsals with Queen for the 46664 concert in Cape Town, South Africa on november 29th. Zucchero also met up with Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics, the man behind the concert.
And some sad news: Marco Figlie, the man who wrote the lyrics to "Dune mosse" died and in London composer Michael Kamen who worked with Zucchero on the title track of the "Miserere" album died of an heart attack.
Ronan Keating/ De André/ 46664 November 17, 2003
Some news: according to the official fanclub and a bunch of Italian newspapers Zucchero and Brittish pop singer Ronan Keating recorded a new version of "Il Volo" called "The Flight" for Keating´s latest album "Turn On" which will be released today. The song isn´t featured on the tracklist of the ´normal´ cd so I suppose we´re talking about an Italian edition of the album. The song might also be included on the duet album (which is looking more and more as 2004 btw).
Another new release: a double cd and dvd will be released of a tribute by some of the top Italian musicians to deceased singer songwriter Fabrizio De André in 2000. Zucchero performed "Ho visto Nina volare" which was already released on the Dindondio single in 2002.
And last: a conformation of what we already knew, Zucchero will perform with Queen during the 46664 concert in Cape Town, South Africa on the 29th. Queen guitarist Brian May confirmed that during a chat session on the 46664 site. Earlier this year Zucchero already performed "We are the champions" with Queen during the Pavarotti and Friends gala and in ´92 he performed "Las palabras de amor" during the Freddie Mercury tribute, Brian May and Zucchero have worked with eachother even more including several guest appereances during shows and recording new guitar work for Solo una sana.. and Il mare for the duet album.
Toronto: a review November 17, 2003
Here´s Wendy´s review of the Toronto concert she visited (Sam is a non-Zucchero-loving friend of Wendy she dragged to the show)
Getting there:
We left Erie PA around 8 in the morning, me driving, We drive through Buffalo, New York, manage to make our way past that, over the border via the "Peace Bridge", clear customs and get into Canada by 10 or 11. Kept on up to Toronto, me still driving, Sam trying to make sense of the map we had. Made it into Toronto, downtown, I started to panic (I don't like driving in large cities I don't know) so all at once Sam opens his door, (in the middle of an intersection), says "jump out!" and we switch places (cause the deal was that he would drive IN Toronto). We find the hotel by 1300, check in, don't like our room (it's not exactly what the online booking agent promised), change rooms. Then we set out walking. Our plan is to go get some lunch, then head over to Massey Hall to pick up our concert tickets that were being held at the box office and see if there is actually going to be a sound check. While wandering about, looking for a likely place to eat, we come across an interesting little tavern "The Imperial" and go in to have lunch there. Oh oh, their cook isn't in yet, so all they have are drinks. We have a couple beers, intending to then go have lunch. I explain to Sam that IF this soundcheck really happens he is going to HAVE TO take charge and make sure I get a picture since I never ever will be able to do that. Then we realize we've talked so long that we don't have time for finding a place to have lunch now.
The soundcheck
We find Massey Hall, get our tickets from the box office (the girl there saying, "Pennsylvania?? That's an awful long way to come for a concert") and then ask about the sound check. She doesn't know anything, tells us to go outside to the stage door entrance. We do, see people hauling instruments and assorted stuff in thru the door. Sam just says, "come on" and proceeds to walk right in with all of them as if he's part of the crew, lol. (I should explain that Sam's been in performance art his entire life, dance, theater, etc so he is not at all uncomfortable with just walking into places like this, acting as if he belongs there) I'm trailing behind, waiting for the security guard to stop us, but he doesn't, lol. We walk up into the hall by the stage (dodging people carrying in the drum kit) and by then the security guard catches up with us. Sam just says casually to him "Hi! How're you doing?" and shakes his hand. We explain we're here for the soundcheck and show him the email from the fanclub. He doesn't know anything about it but tells us to come with him and he'll find "Crissy" (one of the people Stefano from the fanclub told me to ask for). We trail the guard all over the back of Massey Hall, up and down, thru the dressing rooms, onto the stage where guys are setting up stuff. He can't find Crissy. Tells us to wait a minute, but to not go out onto the middle of the stage (as if we would have!! I was having a heart attack by this time!) (On second thought, Sam probably would have, lol) Just then I turned around cause people were coming up the stairs there and it was Lisa and Adriano! and they said "Hi" as they walked by us onto the stage and I whisper "SAM!! That was LISA HUNT!!" (as if that meant anything to him) and he said, "well you want a picture with her?, Lisa! Hey Lisa!" and I almost died, figuring we would get kicked out for sure by then, lol. Before I even knew if she'd heard him, the security guy was back and told us to follow him to Crissy. He took us out front in the hall, right in front of the stage and Crissy told us to just sit down and Zucchero would be there in 1/2 hour or less. I felt SO idiotic, sitting there, there was no one else there (fan-wise), only workers, lol. But Polo and Mario and Adriano and Matteo and Lisa were onstage, starting the soundcheck. We were about 5 feet from the stage it was like our own little concert, cause they kept playing actual songs, not just going "check, check, etc" or playing just one or two notes over and over like I've heard with other soundchecks. Then I looked around to the back of the hall and a couple people were coming down the aisle and I thought "oh good, more fans, good, I won't feel so stupid sitting here" and then the woman walked by (both in big parka type winter coats, lol, I hadn't even been wearing a coat that afternoon, it seemed warm in Toronto to me) and then they guy walked by us and looked at us, and the guy smiled and said hi and it was ZUCCHERO!!!
Sam (who is bored by now and just wants to get to a restaurant so he figures if we can get this picture-meet thing over with as fast as possible he'll be able finally have lunch) starts to get up and go after Zucchero (and I'm dying, inside) but I said "wait!!! you can't follow him!!!" and made him sit back down. Then Zucch came out onstage and they did more songs, it was sooooooooooooo cool, like a little mini private concert...
Soundcheck tracklist:
can't remember the first song, sigh, I think I was numb at that point, lol
Il mare
Baila
Senza una donna
Wonderful World
Solo una sana
Dune mosse
Con le mani
Diavolo in me
finally they were at the end of the soundcheck, trying to get the opening for Dune Mosse just right and they did it over and over (the first 8 bars of it are still ringing in my head, lol) and Zucchero was sitting on a chair (backwards) and he finally just hung his head on the back of the chair and said "voglio pasta al pesto" and Sam laughed and said "me too!" Then they finally got the opening down and were done.
Then Zucchero went offstage and Laura from the fanclub came over and told us to wait just a bit more and he would be back out to talk with us and do fotos. While we were waiting, Lisa walked by and as she did Sam said "Hey Lisa! I love your voice, it is just awesome, can we get a foto?" and she said "Sure!!" and so I got a foto with her and then Laura and Zucchero came back out onto the stage and over to the edge and they jumped down in front of us and I think I said something really brilliant like "Thank you so much for your music" and he asked where I was from and I said something, I have no idea what and then he shook Sam's hand and Sam started going on about how I had dragged him all over Europe to try to see Zucchero, for the past 3 years, lol.
I'm not sure if I said anything else at that point or not, lol. Then Laura directed him over to 3 other people who had just come in, thank god we were not the only fans in the entire city, the lack of them at the soundcheck had worried me about the concert itself since Sam and I seemed to be the only people in the whole place who weren't working there. It was great. Everyone there was just so, so..nice. Laura and Lisa and Zucchero and Mario and Crissy and Polo and Adriano and Matteo and the guy who gave Sam a pen so I could take notes (lol) everyone was just really friendly and relaxed and nice!
oh my. oh my. That's all I kept mumbling as we left the hall. We went to an Italian (what else?) restaurant for dinner; Sam had manicotti and I had penne all'arrabbiata then we ended up back in the Imperial Pub for a while and then went back to the hotel to change for the concert.
We started walking thru Toronto in the dark, it was cool but not cold, with a light mist. As we approached the hall, we saw lines of people outside, people were begging for tickets and I haven't heard so much spoken Italian since last summer. I hadn't realized how large of an Italian population Toronto has until then. Massey Hall apparently holds about 2,200 people and since people were asking for tickets outside, I'm assuming it must have been sold out. We went in and found our seats 8th row center right :-) and there was some opening act on, some local Italian/Canadian guy doing some Frank Sinatra type music with his band so we headed downstairs to the concession stand to see what was for sale. I bought 2 t-shirts and a Shake keychain and the "Canadian" version of Shake that comes with an extra single w/ 4 tracks. Then we went back upstairs and sat down. Some local DJ (speaking in Italian) introduced the producer of the show (who couldn't speak Italian). The producer's father apparently had produced his very last show in Massey hall 20 years ago and that show had been Zucchero and now this guy is producing his very first show and it's Zucchero. So he dedicated the show to the memory of his father, which was touching.
The house lights went down, complete darkness, the band snuck onstage in the dark (there's no curtain for the stage in this hall) while people yelled out and then the 8 opening bars of Dune Mosse started. A spotlight came on to a seated Zucchero as he began singing. The crowd just erupted! Omgod, it was incredible. Absolutely incredible. From the beginning to the end, Zucchero and the band members had this amazing connection with each and every person there. It was intense and emotional and warm and personal and such high energy and simply utter fun! People were singing and dancing the entire time, I don't think anyone sat down exept for parts of some of the slower songs, I've never felt so much intensity, and I'm running out of superlatives to try to describe it :-)
Setlist: (with some comments that I furiously scribbled in the dark, along with some of Sam's comments who, until that night, hadn't been a fan of Zucchero, heh heh)
Dune mosse- intense, emotional, Zucchero sitting, singing...at the end repating "occhi" "occhi" "occhi" and pointing at the crowd while the last notes echoed and the ligts went out
Dindondio- still sitting, Lisa comes out in a shimmery blue gown and turban
Rossa mela della sera - seated, till the end till he gets up and starts walking around the stage with his guitar and the crowd again went wild
Baila (english version) every single person got up and danced, I usually dislike the English version, but everyone was clapping and umping around and singing along and yelling and the band was laughing and it was just so fun
Ali d'oro - same beginning as in Zurich, started with his back to the crowd as JL Hooker's voice came over the sound system, very intense & emotional. Lisa was great although during some parts the sound system made it hard to really hear her. When she sang alone it was incredible. At the end he repeated "really say" about 3 or 4 times really really really slowly and with the echoing and the music just fading ever so slowly away it was amazing. The crowd began calling out and whistling as if they couldn't stand the sheer impact of it.
Il volo - probably the best version of Il volo I've ever hears, again so emotional and intense. I've heard the song around 8 billion times but this was different (like Dune mosse in Zurich). During the "baby don't cry" part the lights went out and then just a spotlight on him.
Ahum - spotlight on Lisa, people singing along with that one (well, they did that with every song, lol) Lisa was excellent, absolutely excellent
Overdose d'amore - right into that one from Ahum with Polo doing the "don't panic" part and people were dancing ALL over, they came running down form the balcony and from the back of the hall right up front. There was only about 4 feet betwen the stage and the first seats, so everyone was crowded into there and Lisa and Zucchero were dancing and that made everyone else get even wilder
Il mare - directly from Overdose into Il mare without even a second to catch our breaths, omg!
Everybody --- seemed to be a sweet song, kind of a bluesy-ballad, can't remember the lyrics but the title was repeated alot. I think I liked it, but at that point I was so overwhelmed with emotion after emotion in that crowd that I couldn't make a real judgement about the song.
Senza una donna - Lisa came out in one of those low cut black gowns, with her hair down and a red flower in it on the right hand side. She and Zucchero played this one up a lot, which the crowd loved.
Diamante - beautiful as usual
Cosi Celeste - absolutely stunning vocals from Lisa
Con le mani - again fun, fun, fun, Lisa and Polo played up the crowd, egging each other on, she running her hands all over him, which the crowd loved, lol. Zucchero danced the entire song and the guitar part had a different ending than I'd heard before, really amazing.
Wonderful World - emotional, Polo tried to walk over to the keyboard, to play with Matteo but his cord wasn't long enough so during the song there's this stagehand crawling around on the floor, trying to look as if he's really not there, trying to untangle Polo and feed him more line, lol. I liked the end, Zucchero repeated "I can't take it no more" over and over
Solo una sana - I have no notes on that one, it was impossible to try to write anything at that point, it was just everyone up and screaming along wiht the lyrics and laughing and dancing!
Diavolo in me - Polo doing the intro, extra long with Zucchero behind him, kind of mugging along, the crowd loved that, it got louder and louder and more people were up front dancing and everyone else was dancing and Zucchero kept reaching down and grasping hands with people
Shake - right into Shake from Diavolo without a break, Zucchero and Lisa dancing (Sam at this point yelling over to me "I CANNOT BELIEVE THEY ARE NOT RECORDING THIS!)
then about 3/4 of the way through Shake Zucchero called out "doppia tempo!!" and sped the tempo WAY up and everyone sped up their clapping and dancing and the band sped up and I thought I was going to die, lol and then Sam leaned over and screamed in my ear "OH MY GOD! WITH THE RIGHT MARKETING HERE..OH MY GOD!!!" Then someone passed a little boy in a white shirt (he looked to be around 6 or so) over people's heads to the front and he held out something (a tablet or notebook or cd, I couldn't tell) and Zucchero (while Shake is still frenetically going on) reached out and signed it for the boy and as people passed the boy back and he was facing the crowd, the kid did one of those "YES!!!!" signs with his fist (you know, when you kind of pull back your fist really hard towards your body) and waved whatever it was that Zucchero had signed for him. The crowd LOVED that!!
Then they left the stage and of course everyone's yelling and clapping and I was just kind of stunned, I couldn't believe it was over, it had seemed as if only a few minute had passed since the beginning of the concert! Then a "Zucch-ero, Zucch-ero" chant started and they came back :-)
Encore 1
Va, pensiero - Zucchero sitting, without his hat this time, doing that funny "Joe Green" joke thing and at the end of the song he said "yeah, yeah, sweet" real quiet.
Per colpa di chi? - the rest of the band comes back on stage and they start right up and god, like everything else, it was amazing..the way the whole band looks like they're having fun and they're egging on the audiance to dance and teasing each other, it was just FUN, lol. Then Zucchero introduced the band members and yelled "In blues we trust! Blues.....NEVER......dies........ciao!" and they left the stage again. And of course the chant starts up again, stamping, whistling and
Encore 2
Hai scelto me - amazing. simply amazing, a perfect artistic, emotional, intense way to end a concert. Lisa was beyond words. She did some what I'd call "free" vocals (I'm sure there's a word for it, but I don't know it) an "improv" type thing like in a lot of gospel music. Then Zucchero got to one of the high notes and he holds it a bit and he keeps holding it and holding it and holding it and the tension kept building and building and Lisa's looking over at him and it was if the crowd was holding it's collective breath and when he finally stopped they cheered and yelled for just a second but immediately went silent so they could hear the rest of the song and then after it ended he put his hat on the mic and the lights went out except for one on the mic and the hat and the crowd was completely wild by then. Then all the lights went out.
Welcome to the all new Un po' di Zucchero site!
We've been working pretty hard on it the last three months (besides spending time on trivial stuff like work, study and family life) so we hope you'll like it!One of the things changed is (besides the new look) of course the fact that we eliminated the Italian version, from now on the Ask Boris section has a seperate Italian version (click Italiano above) as well as the Zucchero-section. Other sections may follow later on.
On the old site we had a pretty lousy "Old News" section where we dumped all the ancient Zucchero newsstories published in this section, the new Ask Archives are a lot easier to enter and are sorted per two months.
The Discography has a complete new look and additional information per album. In the section Best of the Rest we have a small selection of albums and special projects Zucchero has worked on throughout the years.
The Links section includes links to almost all Zucchero sites on the web, some of our online friends and links to video material of Zucchero online (under Media).
The Articles section contains a variety of articles on Zucchero including interviews and album-live reviews posted per 'album-period'.The Zucchero, Tour and Pictures sections haven't changed much. The biography has been updated a bit and all sections have a new look.
ENJOY THE NEW SITE!
46664: tickets on sale/ performance with Queen? November 10, 2003
The tickets for the 46664 concert on november 29 in Cape Town, South Africa for Aids awereness (feauturing artists like Bono, Queen, Anastacia, the Eurythmics and Zucchero) have gone on sale last week. Tickets are available online on www3.computicket.com. Universal Music Italia reports that Zucchero will also perform with Queen. The show will be broadcasted on tv (MTV) and internet (Tiscali). The show will start (local time) at 7 in the evening.
On the road again: Montreal Pictures November 06, 2003
Our friend Shar sent us the following pictures of Zucchero´s performance during the Montreal gig last month:
and the following pictures of the soundcheck:
(from left to right: Adriano, Shar, Lisa and Mario)
