I could not believe this was really going to happen. Distorted Pony, after more than 25 (jeez!) years, they still give me the goosebumps , their Music tingles me down the spine. Do I have to show you my collection of DP records? Their lyrics, full of fierce anguish still echo in my mind. Will I Be Free? Will I Be? Will... I!!! [..] Trembling away, Every choice, a mistake.. (Cripple)
With headphones on, it's still that SOMETHING you can only experience through Music.
I mean, it was 2010 when Distorted Pony sadly announced they could not make it to Europe, right?
And that 2008 or 2009 - when they've set the reunion. Oh, Happy Day. I remember in my teen years, I had had to re-record on a second tape their Punishment Room, such it was on heavy rotation in my walkman.
So, as they eventually posted on FB they were finally going to tour Europe - first and last/FINAL time, - as they specified.. (two gigs in Italy, then, France, Spain, Belgium, NL, Poland, Germany), thanks and with local (from Cuneo, Italy) noise makers Cani Sciorri, I just only needed to know when and where. Europe? Fine for me. Italy? That's fantastic news. Bologna? Not that far from hometown! You got me. Me, and my dear friend Federico, we pre-ordered the tickets for Freakout club, grabbed the train tickets for our 4 hrs trip, and not much later we booked a room, ten minutes far from the venue, - so, Go! It was 90s again.
Cani Sciorri are not exactly my cup of tea, although their sound was fiercely nihilistic, something à la Unsane vs Skin Graft rec. Three piece, almost 20 years together, irreverent lyrics (in Italian), bass, drums, distorted guitar, noise rockers, - noise sluggers. Respect.
Before Cani Sciorri jumped on stage around 10.30, I had a short talk with Theodore Jackson aka Ted Carrol - the man in charge of hitting hard the oil can with drumsticks - that percussive and typical heartbeat of DP's sound: we used to exchange a couple of emails ages ago (fu7k! 2003..), so, it was really nice of him saying he did remember me. Friendly mannered, actually, like everybody else in the band, that was so lovely of them, - he introduced us to Tricia: it's so cool DP are humble and human, I mean, I know it should be always be like that, and that easy, - I'm referring to the interaction among people, - but, frankly, it is like my spirit still reinvigorates every time that bands/artists are so inclined to share a smile or a nice word with you.
Deeply appreciated.
Eddie Rivas replaces guitarist Robert Hammer since 2010, - and enthusiastically, I'd say. The Distorted Pony logo was on one of his gears.
London May never lost his metronome touch, kicking the drums with tints tribal and industrial, beautifully unison with Ted's beat. Together they are often close to a tsunami.
PAIN. That sticker on Dora Jahr aka Tricia Pistay's bass. Still the same bass since 90's. As they started their set, around 11.40, with Death in the turnstile, I felt instantly tarantuled. Just in front of the stage.
Last but not least, David Uskovich: he knows how to drive the sacred fire of noise fuzz and distortion feedback through the guitar. Chaos control. When DP started playing H.O.D., it was a total BOOM on me. This is, (not in order) together with Unsane's My Right and Upside Down by The Jesus and Mary Chain, a piece of excellence of that triplet/triad which make the Noise Music pamphlet. How to vehicle an electric guitar satured with feedback. This may sound pretty stupid, but, when I was a teenager, I used to kneel in front of my stereo in my bedroom, listening to these three songs, holding my Jazzmaster over my head, hoping she may learn that fire while it was burning just in front of me, through my ears. My closest experience to to sacred holy, so far. I'm forty now.
Also, when David started that distorted couplet that opens A Fine View From The Temple, I felt ecstatic. Not for nothing I did all those miles/kms for Distorted Pony. What a criminally underrated band. Will they cry on my grave, will the find my jokes and stories, those jokes that say I'm lonely, and stories of no hope. This verses tormented me for years. How beautifully resumes teen angst.
Besides me, I had the most appreciated person, you can only dream of during a show: a guy dancing with a folding fan. So, notwithstanding the suffocating heat, I was constantly refreshed. I counted about 80 people as audience. The age went from twenty to fifty, and I think nobody was there randomly. After A Fine View.. they played two encores, Cripple and Angel on a Haug, - this, recently reprinted on 7'' vinyl by Beauty Fool rec.
Later, me and Federico got to chatting with David, and took a picture together, - no flash, I know, still, who cares, you can still see our happiness.
Distorted Pony performed a great show in Bologna, the audience been easily enraptured, and I felt so lucky I was there too.
PS. Sorry, the pictures I took are sh..
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