Florence + the Machine | The Auditorium, Rome | 22 July, 2010

It's just over a year since Lungs, the debut album by Florence + the Machine, exploded onto the British music scene, eventually becoming one of the best selling albums of 2009 (and 2010 so far) and scooping countless prizes including the coveted Mastercard Best British Album at the 2010 BRIT Awards. Last night Florence Welch brought her seemingly never ending world tour to Rome, where she closed her recent European round of Summer Festivals at the Auditorium Parco della Musica as another highlight of this year's Luglio Suona Bene programme.

Dressed all in white in a flowing gown, Florence was the second barefooted singer to take the Cavea stage this week - Graham Nash was the other for any trivia fans reading this – although I'd secretly rather hoped to see her repeat some of her death-defying dancing on spectacularly high heels! It was another steamy night in Rome, but this girl had boundless energy and a strangely ethereal presence. Maybe it was the way she was dressed, but she moved with such light footed steps as to appear almost angelic – an innocent appearance that was dramatically at odds with the darkness of some of her eerie lyrics - My Boy Builds Coffins was particularly good early on in the show – or the (self) destructive energy of Hurricane Drunk and the song that has caused a flurry of controversy since it appeared as her debut single, Kiss With a Fist.

The Florence + the Machine live show presents a pared down version of her music where the power of Welch's extraordinary voice takes precedence over the veneer of studio production. It was a downright boisterous crowd at the Auditorium last night who cheered deafeningly between and even during songs if there was a moment's silence, but also, unfortunately, it was one of the noisiest audiences I've encountered for quite some time where people chatted distractedly throughout the show and it felt rather like being in a field at a rock festival rather than at the Cavea. Looking around at the predictably very young audience, I was painfully aware of a yawning generation gap with myself at the furthest end! Despite efforts of the youngest around me to ruin the evening, however, it was still a wonderful concert, which was one of discovery for me as I went primarily out of pure curiosity to see what all the hype was about. I discovered that Florence Welch is the real deal and by the end of the show I was a newly converted fan! The cheers after the encore, which included an absolutely stunning Dog Days Are Over, would have blown the roof off the venue if it had had one! I'm really curious to see how her career develops as she is a performer with amazing stage presence and huge talent.

Watch Dog Days Are Over below or click here to watch on YouTube.

Jónsi | The Auditorium, Rome | 21 July, 2010

Of all the events in this year's Luglio Suona Bene open air concerts in the Cavea at the Auditorium Parco della Musica, it was last night's appointment with Sigur Rós frontman Jon Thor Birgisson, better known as Jónsi, that I had been most eagerly anticipating. I'd been following the development of the tour on Jonsi's website and knew that it was going to be a visually stunning show with gorgeous animation work and projected graphics specially designed by 59 Productions. When I bought the tickets way back in March, however, I was given an almost pitying look by box office staff who clearly thought my eagerness to get what I thought were surely the hottest tickets in town was exaggerated! As it turned out, it wasn't a sell-out show last night, but the devoted fans in the audience made up for its size in enthusiastic applause and cheers during what was an amazing performance by the Icelandic musician - it was everything I had hoped it would be...and more! Hearing Jónsi use his extraordinary vocal gifts and that achingly beautiful falsetto live on stage is something you really have to experience in person.

Last year Jónsi released an exquisite ambient instrumental album Riceboy Sleeps recorded at home in Reykjavik with his boyfriend Alex Somers, who also joined him on stage last night in Rome on guitar, sound effects and keyboards, together with the other three vital musical components of this tour - Thorvaldur Thór Thorvaldsson on drums, Ólafur Björn Ólafsson on keyboards and Úlfur Hansson on bass and monome. The focus of last night's show was firmly on Jónsi's stunning first solo studio album Go, released in April this year and he performed all nine tracks on the album, with the sheer euphoria of Go Do and Boy Lilikoi totally bringing down the house, as well as several so far unreleased songs - the gorgeous opening acoustic number Stars in Still Water, the heartbreaking Icicle Sleeves, Saint Naive and an unnamed piano song.

When Jónsi came back out on stage for the encore in full Native American headdress and launched into a joyous version of Sticks and Stones (from the score to the 2010 film How to Train Your Dragon) and then totally let rip in ecstatic oblivion with the pounding grand finale of Grow Till Tall with blizzard and thunderstorm visuals playing on the screen behind him, it was as if we were thrust into the very heart of a storm and made to experience that awe of the elements that city dwellers so often ignore. Throughout the night, animals – running wolves and deer, butterflies, swooping owls and scurrying rats and insects - had all come to life on the backdrop screens reminding us of the terrible beauty and sometimes destructive power of Nature. It was a wonderful journey that kept the audience rapt. Thank you Jónsi for taking us with you.

Watch Boy Lilikoi below or click here to watch on YouTube.

Crosby, Stills & Nash | The Auditorium, Rome | 19 July, 2010

Last night's appointment at the Auditorium Parco della Musica in the open air Cavea saw yet another of the highlights of this year's Luglio Suona Bene programme with living legends of folk rock David Crosby, Stephen Stills and recent OBE recipient Graham Nash performing on stage again together as Crosby, Stills & Nash. Throughout their various permutations – with and without Neil Young, as solo artists and duos too – and their widely reported fallings-out over the years, what has remained a constant has been the quality of the music, and seeing them play last night, reconfirmed the fact that over forty years since the release of their eponymous debut album, these men are still consummate musicians who sing songs that resonate as much today as ever before.



Crosby, Stills & Nash opened the show in spectacular fashion with a Joni Mitchell song that is synonymous with their status as cultural icons of American music and was a clear nod to their very beginnings when they performed at the most famous music festival of all time - Woodstock. When, towards the end of the show, somebody screamed out a request for this very song, David Crosby smiled and replied, “We already played Woodstock” and Graham Nash added with a chuckle, “You missed it!” A blistering first set took in several of their absolute classics - Long Time Gone, Marrakesh Express, Southern Cross and a gorgeous Long May You Run (their Neil Young tribute of the present tour – aka the "tall skinny Canadian", as Crosby described their sometime collaborator) - wrapping up the first hour with a breathtaking Wooden Ships.

After a short break they were back on stage for an acoustic, close harmony set that kicked off with a lovely Helplessly Hoping and then moved through a series of cover versions – rumour has it they have a cover album in the works – the Beatles' Norwegian Wood, Gregg Allman's Midnight Rider, a fabulous Bob Dylan cover with Girl From The North Country, which perfectly suited Stills grittier vocals, as well as a Rolling Stones classic, Ruby Tuesday, which saw the audience singing along. Another surprising cover would come later on in the evening with a rocking homage to The Who with Behind Blue Eyes. The sell-out crowd last night whooped and cheered every time Nash and Crosby made magic with their still perfect vocal harmonies (Guinnevere, Delta and Cathedral were stand-out songs by Crosby and Nash) and each time Stephen Stills amazed us with some seriously impressive guitar work. When they closed the main show with Almost Cut My Hair - David Crosby's vocals soaring over the Cavea, the ever defiant hippy-at-heart standing with his long white hair blowing behind him, whilst Stephen Stills and Graham Nash duelled guitar licks – it was simply spine-tingling! And it wasn't over yet...they had already been on stage for more than two hours in torrid temperatures, but deafening applause called them back for an extended encore and one more chance for us to join in on the chorus of the civil rights anthem Chicago (We Can Change the World), Stephen Still's solo hit Love the One You're With and one final crowd pleaser, Teach Your Children. A truly wonderful evening.

Watch Almost Cut My Hair below or click here to watch on YouTube.

Arrivederci Roma! Closing awards ceremony at Roma Fiction Fest

Hollywood stars and some of the most famous faces on television were at the Auditorium Conciliazione for the closing awards ceremony of the Roma Fiction Fest 2010 yesterday and the crowds were out in force on what was a steamy hot Saturday evening in Rome to see them take their turn on the festival's distinctive orange carpet.

Veronica Pivetti, the “godmother” of the 2010 festival was the compere for the night and was accompanied on stage by the Pino Jodice Orchestra who provided musical diversion throughout the show with their arrangements of some of the most popular TV themes from television history. Marg Helgenberger and Andy García both picked up prizes for Artistic Excellence, whilst Claire Danes scooped the top prize for Best Leading Actress in a TV Drama for her riveting performance in Temple Grandin. Jason Priestley was joined on stage by this year's Roma Fiction Fest jury president A.J. Buckley of CSI: New York fame, who presented him with the Best Leading Actor in a TV Comedy Award for his latest incarnation as Richard Fitzpatrick in the hilarious Call Me Fitz. The Best Leading Actor in a TV Drama Award went to Estonian actor Margus Prangel for his moving performance in Klass: Elu Pärast, which also won Best Product in the TV Drama category. There were also plenty of prizes for Italian TV shows and stars with national treasure Virna Lisi receiving the warmest welcome on both the orange carpet, where she was greeted with spontaneous applause from fans outside the theatre, and when she took the stage to receive the Best Actress in a Continuing Series Award for Caterina e le sue figlie 3.

To get a taste of the event scroll through the images in the gallery above or watch the video of Marg Helgenberger collecting her prize below (or click here to watch on YouTube).

'Midsomer Murders' star John Nettles at Roma Fiction Fest 2010

John Nettles at Roma Fiction Fest 2010

Day 5 of Roma Fiction Fest 2010 saw more stars of the small screen tread the orange carpet at Cinema Adriano – Claire Danes was there to promote the recently Emmy nominated Temple Grandin, whilst British actor John Nettles arrived to present an episode from Season 13 of the hugely popular Midsomer Murders, entitled The Sword of Guillaume. As the show's producer Brian True-May explained in an encounter in Sala 9, this is will be Nettles' final series playing Detective Chief Inspector Tom Barnaby – indeed, they had wrapped shooting on the very last episode only the evening before – but that the show will continue with Neil Dudgeon taking over in the 14th series as Barnaby's cousin DCI John Barnaby. The Sword of Guillaume – another cracking Midsomer episode, with the mandatory gruesome slayings and fairly modest body count – is, in fact, the first time audiences are introduced to the “new” Barnaby.

The meeting with the star of the show might easily have been advertised as “An Evening with John Nettles”. The man is a marvellous raconteur and spoke easily and at length about his favourite moments from working on Midsomer (he particularly cherished the episode in which Oliver Ford Davies is pinned down on a croquet lawn, whilst pelted with bottles of his favourite vintage wine from a replica Roman catapult), his earlier TV career playing Jim Bergerac and his work in theatre with the Royal Shakespeare Company, as well as his recent OBE for services to drama – all interspersed with amusing anecdotes and infectious laughter! I was thrilled when he paused to sign autographs at the end of the event and I was able to exchange a few words with him in person.

Watch some highlights from John Nettles' appearance at Roma Fiction Fest 2010 below (or click here to watch on You Tube).