With the arrival of the summer season, music events are exploding around the globe. An interesting one is the Citadel Music Festival, taking place in Berlin, Germany. Do not be confused by the word “festival,” expecting a 4 days event with loads of bands performing one after the other. This music event, organized by Trinity Music GmbH, spreads over about three months of genuine appreciation for the art of music. Kicking off on June 5 with the performance by historical band Toto, the festival will close the curtain on August 30 with Xavas.

Citadel Music Festival takes place at the Spandau Citadel, a Renaissance fortress, located on an island created by the meeting of the rivers Havel and Spree. The Citadel is a beautiful open air location with the ability to contain a large number of participants while offering a dreamy setting to enjoy the soul of music. A variety of genres and styles are covered by the festival, including world fusion, trip hop, classic rock, alternative and proto-punk.

Acts such as Portishead, ZZ Top, and 30 Seconds to Mars will perform in this beautiful location. Queens of the Stone Age will be there on June 22 promoting their upcoming work ‘…Like Clockwork,’ the band’s sixth studio album due on June 3. Tenacious D will offer the city a performance of its funny rock, whose ironic lyrics accompany a strong and serious sound. One of the most intriguing performances offered by the musical event is surely the Iggy and The Stooges concert. The band has recently released a new album ‘Ready to Die,’ the first one seeing Iggy Pop and James Williamson collaborate on the composition of tracks after the glorious ‘Raw Power’ album, released in 1973 and held responsible for the birth of punk rock.

Iggy and The Stooges are well known for offering one of the best live shows in the current music scene. In spite of his age, Iggy Pop does not seem to feel any need to change his approach to the stage, nor do the great Mike Watt, Steve Mackay, Scott Asheton, and James Williamson who together with the Iguana create a magical atmosphere during the concert, able to kidnap the audience and bring it to the roots of rock. They create a powerful and honest experience, which merges raw sentiments, strong energy, simplicity and perfect execution, giving birth to an astonishing performance. A concert by Iggy and The Stooges is an experience which goes beyond words, and a must see for anybody who wants to fully live music instead of just listening to it. The graceful setting of the Spandau Citadel will serve as the perfect stage for such a glorious event.

The Citadel Music Festival is used to big names playing its stage: Patty Smith, Billy Idol, Marilyn Manson and many more played there, giving this festival great relevance in the scene. With eighteen concerts spanned over three months, picking among several music genres, this year the Citadel Music Festival gives once again everybody a chance to take a leap into one’s favorite kind of music. For the complete line-up click here.

Image credit: Citadelmusicfestival.de

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After an extensive tour in 2012, Iggy and The Stooges have decided it is time to amaze their fans with a brand new album. ‘Ready To Die’ is the title of the upcoming album by the infamous proto-punk band, and it will be released on April 30 on Fat Possum Records. The band’s most famous record is ‘Raw Power’, the album that opened the ball for the punk movement that took shape in England and in the U.S.A., taking several different forms and shades.

‘Ready To Die’ will feature Iggy Pop as vocalist, guitarist James Williamson and drummer Scott “Rock Action” Asheton, with the addition of the great Mike Watt (who has already been touring with the band), filling in for the late Ron Asheton on bass.

Iggy and The Stooges announced the album in a video portraying Iggy Pop as a scarecrow, and featuring a sample of one of the new tracks. In the sample, all the adrenalinic and electrifying feelings usually exploding in Iggy and The Stooges’ music are retrieved, pushing the excitement for the upcoming event even more.

Iggy Pop, with his usual peculiar way of expressing his personality, explained the idea behind the album “My motivation in making any record with the group at this point is no longer personal. It’s just a pig-headed fucking thing I have that a real fucking group, when they’re an older group, they also make fucking records,” he says. “They don’t just go and twiddle around on stage to make a bunch of fucking money and go, ‘Ohh, it wouldn’t be as good.’ This is not the fucking Smashing Pumpkins, you know, we’ve got the bald guy and whoever. This is the key. The only thing I really have left to say is The Stooges are a real group.”

As if the album was not enough to satisfy the appetite of the fans, the band’s official website gives more good news. It reads “Iggy and the Stooges will begin the Ready To Die live assault shortly. Stay tuned for coordinates.” Iggy and The Stooges had already announced a number of live shows around the world for this year, but this statement hints an extensive presence of the band on the live stage in 2013.

In the year when Bowie announced a new album and Jimi Hendrix’s brand new material is going to be released on a new record soon, Iggy and The Stooges’ upcoming album fits like a perfect piece in the puzzle of musical greatness. Let us hope the White Duke follows the example of his buddy Iggy Pop and jumps on a world tour to amaze fans, who have been waiting for years. Furthermore, the ‘Lust For Life’ biopic, about David Bowie and Iggy Pop’s Berlin period, is on its way to the big screen. It is surely an interesting year for music.

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There is a difference between just playing music, and performing the love for music, for fans and for life. For the sake of simplicity, the latter concept can be expressed just by saying Iggy and The Stooges. The band from Detroit is unarguably one of the best things that ever happened to rock, and keeps on demonstrating it day by day, or better, date by date.

They did not spare any energy in giving themselves to the crowd during their performance at the Hard Rock Rocks The Square event that took place in Florence, Italy on September 27, organized by Hard Rock Cafe Florence. If the greatness of Iggy and The Stooges and their terrific performance on stage made the night an unforgettable one, important organizational issues downgraded this supreme experience.

Hard Rock Café organized the event to celebrate the restaurant’s presence in the main city of Tuscany, a thank you for “those who helped us rock,” as said in their words. At 8:00 p.m. the evening concerts started, with the performance of DESMA, winners of the “Battle of The Bands,” a competition organized jointly with FIAT and Virgin Radio to promote new talents. Maybe due to the anxiety of the important night, although containing potential, the band was not too catchy. DESMA is a very young band recently formed, which has plenty of time to completely mature its sound and live attitude. Although the band seemed not to yet have developed full awareness of its capabilities, it is an act to keep an eye on.

Who seemed to be perfectly fitting was the second opening band, The Cyborgs. It is an emerging Italian band who will embark on a European Tour starting next October. The Cyborgs play wearing welding masks and call themselves “0” and “1,” like in the binary code. They fed the excitement of the roaring crowd with a perfectly revisited good-old sound. Re-taking the roots of blues and rock and roll, they play hard and they play well, making the tradition of rock sound still fresh and new.

Finally the solemn moment of the protagonists arrived. Iggy and the Stooges took the stage introducing themselves with a biting “Raw Power.” The band played for about one hour and a half, giving the best performance a concert attendee could ask. Too bad for the acoustics though. From the front it was hard to hear the beautiful, profound, sexy and warm voice that characterizes Iggy Pop, while it was still possible to enjoy the impeccable sound of all the instruments. From further away instead, as reported by some concert attendees located there, even the instruments’ sound would fade away, resulting in a confused noise.

The square where the concert took place, located in the city center,  seemed to be a little too small for such an event with the crowd going wild and sometimes resulting in dangerous behaviors. Glass bottles and other sharp objects filled the place. There were many people who were clearly not able to handle such an event, being annoyingly drunk.

Iggy and The Stooges were fantastic, though. The infamous energetic spirit that possesses Iggy Pop during his live performances, making him jump, sing and dance, expressing his out-flowing love for his fans, had pervaded all the band’s members. Together they created the perfect frame for a historical rock concert.

Image Courtesyof Hard Rock Cafe Firenze

The band played “Raw Power,” considered by most as the first punk album in history, in its entirety, and added some tracks from “Funhouse,” “Open Up and Bleed,” and “The Weirdness,” in addition to some covers and the infamous “The Passenger.”

During the outstanding performance, Iggy Pop invited his fans to go on stage to dance and sing with him; people danced naked on stage, sang with their idol, kissed his feet. On his part, Iggy stage dived three times for the joy of those who were so lucky to catch and touch the rock god. He kept constant interaction with the crowd, talking to them, taking their hands and physically serving himself to them.

The band was the perfect expression of rock and roll, both in musical and stage performance. Iggy Pop is far away from his 65 years, and his voice too. Preserved as a sacred gift to earth, Iggy is still able to float on greatness. Mike Watt, even though always perfect, yesterday was astonishingly amazing, and as usual perfectly in sync with his mate Toby Dammit, who banged the drums as if it were the last concert in history. Guitarist James Williamson gave chills with his spectacular performance, and a very special mention has to go to Steve Mackay, who plays the sax so well that makes the listener think to be in heaven.

Although the need for higher attention to acoustic and safety aspects was evident, Hard Rock Café Florence surely gave fans one of the best acts on earth.

Main Photo Credit : Sophie Howarth

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Hard Rock Cafe is going to celebrate its presence in Florence, Italy, through a free concert that is destined to light up the end of the Italian summer season.

The event ‘Hard Rock Cafe Rocks The Square’ will take place on September 27 in Piazza Della Repubblica, Florence. Kicking off at 3:00 p.m. local time, the day will be entirely dedicated to rock music, with the presence of several bands, including emerging acts and DJs belonging to the major Italian radio stations at the moment.

The event will also see the participation of the Italian car brand FIAT; a FIAT car will be transformed into a guitar amplifier to spice up the day.

During the entire day, as usual for events promoted by Hard Rock Cafe, there will be a benefit fundraiser. The money will be dedicated to projects supporting children; in particular they will be donated to the Meyer hospital and to the Dynamo Camp.

One of the interesting acts that will take the stage is the rock blues band ‘The Cyborgs,’ who will embark on a European tour next October. The stage will also be shared with the winners of the recent Battle of the Bands competition: Desma. The classic-rock band based in Brescia, Italy, will open the night’s celebration at around 8:00 p.m., leaving the stage ready for the legendary band Iggy and The Stooges.

The proto-punk band Iggy and The Stooges is currently on tour bringing its original sound and astonishing energy with them. Performing in its entirety the historical album ‘Raw Power,’ considered by many as the first punk album ever released, Iggy and The Stooges’ shows are a load of adrenaline, love and beautiful music.

Currently composed of eclectic frontman Iggy Pop, Mike Watt at the bass, Steve Mackay playing sax, guitarist James Williamson and Toby Dammit banging the drums, Iggy and The Stooges has been demonstrating during this tour that they are still able to give the ultimate show.

Not much choreography is needed when the perfection of the performances that characterizes all the members of this band meets with the spectacular attitude and presence on stage of the infamous rocker Iggy Pop. Jumping around at his 65 years of age, Iggy Pop seems to dance with the perfection of the musical genius he shares with his band mates.

Performing an album that not only made history but which continues to be more relevant than ever almost 40 years after its release, the band seems to be destined to make people in Florence enjoy an enviable night. It is the perfect choice Hard Rock Cafe could make as a ‘thank you’ to the city they have been established in since 2011.

Image Courtesy of  NRK P3

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