13th....

and I was told Denis Gaignè of The Musical Box made an appearance as special guest...

So nobody was there?

I was there. Actually, I have attended both shows in Montreal and Quebec City. The show in Quebec City was better in my opinion, PFM (and the crowd as well) being more energetic, and displaying more numerous and elaborated improvisations (at least that's what it seemed to me).

Gagné indeed was asked to perform (sing) Harlequin from Chocolate Kings. If he certainly doesn't have Lanzetti's voice, the rendition of the song was first class (again performed better in Quebec City). Mussida on guitar for one, was really impressive on this one. Rythmically speaking, that was quite something to hear. The crowd got hysteric.

The show began with  Birth of Rain (guitar intro to River of Life), immediatly followed by Appena un Po (River of Life). We were already conquiered.

They played mostly titles from Storia di un Minuto, Per un Amico, L'Isola di Niente, and Chocolate Kings. Most tracks were sung in Italian (Out on the roundabout and Harlequin in English of course). Amongst titles played were La Luna Nuova (4 Holes in the Ground - superb), La Carroza di Hans, Il Banchetto, Per un Amico (Photos of Ghosts), Dolcissima Maria, Dove... Quando..., and PFM's arrangiamento di William Tell (from Rossini, ... and Cook).They also made Maestro della Voce from Suonare Suonare, it was fairly well received, but not as much as the older cuts, with standing ovations after almost every song. So nothing more recent than 1980.

When someone asked for Alta Loma 5 till 9, Mussida replied that they would have something later on. The something in question I had never heard before (except for the night before in Montreal), and boy was it absolutely stunning. Long, progressive, ascending impro on guitar (Gibson), with something of a paroxystic climax as they were progressing to the end. I don't think that I ever heard anything like that, or felt how I felt when I heard it. After the show, a lot of (truly excited) guys were talking about how fantastic was the show in general, and this unknown impro in particular.

Premoli was absent, and the guy who replaced him did a great job, again probably even better in Quebec City, where he felt more confident and free to improvise. At some point as I wrote somewhere else, he made a pretty developed impro (alone playing), Mussida and Di Cioccio were staring at him with some funny expression in their face, which kind of meant man this guy can play !

As usual for a good number of years, Lucio Fabbri was on violin (some keyboards and guitars as well). It was obvious that Djivas (speaks French) was having a great deal of fun displaying his outstanding abilities on bass, while Mussida and Di Cioccio were leading the whole thing. When Di Cioccio was singing, another drummer (forgot his name) was playing the drum, again with a lot of fun and energy; the guy was also playing diferent percussions. Mussida on guitar (I have read somewhere that he is the most underrated musician in all of prog) was superb on guitar, displaying stunning virtuosity, feeling, and class. And Di Cioccio, well let,s put it this way, apart from being an excellent drummer, is the one guy who makes the party happen.

Impressioni di Settembre and Celebration, were kept for the encore. There, everyone got hysterical I guess (most of us got hysterical long before that I think). Especially when they launched Celebration, I mean, most of us were dancing, singing and enjoying just like kids.

They came back to say thank you a last time, and obviously they were drained, after the very demanding performance they gave. They promised it wouldn't take them 30 years before they come back, this time.

In a few words : best evening I had in quite some years. Period.

Thanks a lot... 

I even was looking out for shows lately...

Maybe there is a 'Men without hats' coming you way.Just kidding.

I pretty much agree with the review,though i must say that Mussida looked pretty bored most of the time,but maybe he always look like that.

One slight disappointment though,the crowd was screaming for an extra encore for ages and they did not come back.considering how along ago they were here ,the least they could do were

to come back with a smile on their faces.

I was told that the band was flying to Toronto after the show. Maybe true, maybe not.

As for Mussida, I didn't notice the boreness you are mentioning. To the contrary, I felt that he was, as usual, totally involved. Of course, his natural is probably not as outgoing as Di Cioccio.

Finally, I noticed when they last came back, that they looked totally drained, which is  not surprising after the 2 hour effort that they gave.