Bersani in concert. Bologna, Dalla and the vote: “Thanks to the doctor who saved me”

Bologna, June 4, 2025 – It is not easy to say “thank you, I love you,” to anyone. Instead, Samuele Bersani , two nights ago, unknowingly transformed his verbal embrace to his friend Carlo Fabbri into a collective tingle. Bathed in long applause , so loud that the slaps on the palms of his hands could be heard even in the middle of the traffic on Via Stalingrado.

Samuele thanked the doctor who “saved” him , from the closing stage of his tour with the orchestra in Bologna, at the EuropAuditorium. House his, since he has lived under the Towers for 34 years . The doctor from Forlì had “recommended a certain test”, as the singer-songwriter from Romagna said, making furrows on stage like Uncle Scrooge in his warehouse, when he instead only thought of a “backache”. The diagnosis was, instead, that of a lung tumor , as revealed by Bersani himself during the first live in Milan. And it was precisely the treatment and convalescence that had forced the author of Spaccacuore to postpone the entire tour , including the grand finale at his home. Those who were there two nights ago will remember the evening for a long time as a long chat between friends, on summer chairs, with an orchestra giving its best to make words and music shine that have, yes, that tingle of beauty and emotion.

After all, it was Bersani himself who prefaced it : “Tonight there will probably be people here that I greet, in the morning when I go to get a coffee at the bar”. Then the question: “But for how many is it the first time?”. With three-quarters of his forearms in the air, the dive seemed even more refreshing. In great and chatty form, the singer-songwriter alternated sonorously explosive moments – always touching Occhiali rotti dedicated to Enzo Baldoni, an Italian journalist kidnapped and killed in Iraq in 2004 – with moments of sharing with the audience that also highlighted Bersani’s way of thinking. Not that that desire for empathy was anything new, but this time the always lively discussion about Bologna being invaded by tourists and restaurants also ended up in the middle. “It’s a digestive tube”, Bersani’s image without appeal, “more and more for tourists and less for those who live there”. The invective was followed by a look at the audience. “ Oh, I always say things , and last time the mayor was here with us too”. Two nights ago Lepore wasn’t there, but his ears must have been ringing. Maybe with the sound of the Braccio di ferro jingle, repeated at the end of the song of the same name contained in the great 1997 album, and at the end of which there is a sax solo by Lucio Dalla that Bersani has amply remembered with a polished Tu non mi basti mai . “It’s a beautiful city and I’m staying here because I still hear Lucio”, he then underlined together with the little criticism of overtourism.

Then the referendum and voyeur journalism, in this last month packed with recaps on Garlasco. “When you realize you’ve written songs that are ahead of their time,” he reiterated before singing Cattiva, “ask the murderer for an autograph – look closely at the culprit,” Tea sang at the top of his lungs. Like on Coccodrilli and on Lo scrutatore non votonte . “Now there’s also the non-voting politician ,” the jab at the wishes of the center-right with the appeal. “Go vote in the referendum.” Without directions, a clean exhortation. There was also time to remember, always on the sidelines of “premonitory” songs – an escapade in a porn theater as a boy, in the province of Rimini – “With the white safari jacket and the neon lights they recognized me right away” –, and that performance on Maurizio Costanzo in 1992 , when Chicco and Spillo became Spicche and Chicchi . A hug lasting over two hours, if “I love you” is said with Samuele’s naturalness.

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