Another great spring/summer of concerts in the Udine area, thanks to local promoters such as www.azalea.it, www.euritmica.it, www.nobordersmusicfestival.com, www.folkest.com and www.fieradellamusica.it (I would have also included the Rototom Sunsplash folks, the ones that bring us the yearly reggae music festival in the town of Osoppo, near Udine, but they`re the only ones who didn`t grant me the photo accreditation).
Here are just a few of the great artists that rolled into Udine and its neighbouring towns: Fiorella Mannoia, Nightwish, PFM, Nek, Laura Pausini, Joe Jackson, UB40, Ray Wilson, Jethro Tull, Chickenfoot (absolutely one fun concert!), Stevie Winwood, Carlos Santana (supreme!), Madonna (not bad!), David Byrne, Goran Bregovic (interesting!), Bruce Springsteen (simply awesome!), Lenny Kravitz (a bit of a self-centered so-and-so) and the “divine” Roberto Bolle!
But the fun doesn`t end there as at the end of August Udine`s Stadio Friuli will be hosting Coldplay, their only gig in all of Italy. And this should be one other “hot” show as the other day, the NY Times said that just in the U.S. there were 1.3 million digital downloads of their latest album, “Viva La Vida”! No doubt their Udine performance will pack in people from as far away as southern Italy and eastern Europe.
Finally, my heartfelt thanks to ALL those promoters that I`ve been in touch in these last few months who graciously granted me the photo accreditations for these outstanding and fantastic artists, not to mention the beautiful settings where these same promoters organized their concerts (Ray Wilson said the following before playing in Udine`s quaint, small castle: “You really have some wonderful places in Italy for concerts”!).
