[glo32]

Back to the hotel now.

--- THE GIG ---
So, the gig was great. It was actually way better than the setlist shows. No big rarity but all the songs were just perfectly performed, with lots of stories and banters in-between songs, joking around and stuff. You could already see from the beginning he was very relaxed. Made a few jokes about Taormina and the beautiful venue - "we might kiss in some sacred place... like Taormina" or when he introduced T&T saying the volcano behind him (Etna) could just suddenly erupt and we all would be dead in a few minutes.

Accidental Babies was one of the highlights for me. I was really not expecting its outro, with the "what about me" part repeated over and over in an angry/sad way. Never seen that before - but I'm not checking many vids lately so maybe he's doing it on this tour?

It takes a lot was just a perfect version. Just great. Another highlight of mine.

Cheers Darlin' was a request and he accepted it. Said he needed wine though, so someone went to his dressing room and brought it. He drank a lot even before the beginning of the song.

Ad the end of Cheers Darlin' he suddenly stopped and said that it was curfew time and he had been instructed to turn off the PA system at 11.30.
But he then played an unplugged TBD.

I got so tired of songs like TBD, Cannonball and Delicate that I just wish he played only one or two of them, but after all, he seems very into them and they came out wonderfully. TBD was a sing-along with the audience, of course. At that point we were closer to the stage as in the encore he asked us to stand up.

--- THE AFTERSHOW ---
So, we waited for an hour and a half and our hopes weren't too high because there were too many people there (60-70 at least) and we couldn't really find a suitable place for an aftershow.
Taormina is a very small city, and it's all just houses and hotels, in tiny little streets.

Right after the gig we gathered in a corner just outside the venue and began to sing (people had guitars) but after a few minutes the security of the hotel nearby sent us away ("and if you don't go away we'll call the police").

So yeah, we were all like "he's not going to do it".
After more than an hour and a half, I decide to go grab a beer somewhere. Of course, the moment I enter the pub, a phone call arrives: Damien just came out.
So I run as fast as I can to get back to the venue. When I arrive, Damien was just about to start playing right outside the venue.
Someone tells him a song like Volcano would fit perfectly in a place like Taormina (because of the volcano, you know) and Damien agrees. He plays it with the help of two girls there.

But at the end of Volcano, some security people tell us we need to move somewhere else. We end up in a little square with a few trees. There he plays a song, and then asks for someone else to play a song.
This local guy, Alfonso, starts playing Ciuri Ciuri, which is a Sicilian traditional song. And right after that, a medley of other Sicilian songs. Damien has a great time singing along and dancing and I only hope somewhere recorded it properly cause I was behind a few people and would love to watch it with no obstacle.

Then Amie, on request; and The Professor, with a fan playing and Damien (as well as everyone else) singing.
Then Sand, on request.

But we get kicked out again, so we walk around and find a pub that can host us.
We get in, we were about to start playing Coconut Skins, but for some reason the pub asked us to leave (maybe there were too many people in the room).

So yeah, we thought that was it, but Damien really wanted to go on, so he asked some people for advice and we ended up in what I believe is Taormina's main square.
A beautiful, beautiful square near the sea.

And then... then something happens, and Damien just stays there and asks for people to sing, and then takes the guitar and sings another song, and another, and another. Everytime we believe it's the last one, but he keeps going.

People start bringing wine, liquors, cookies and Sicilian food.
He looks like a kid on Christmas' day everytime someone brings something. He really looks super happy to be there, very relaxed, and willing to go on all night long. And turns out he will.
The rest is basically explained in the setlist: a lot of songs, alternated by people singing songs. An Italian singer-songwriter named Fabrizio Cammarata was at the show and they ended up playing one song each. Damien liked his music cause everytime he asked for more. He also said at one point "I wish I wrote that" regarding one of Fabrizio's songs. He was genuinily impressed.

Anyway, at one point, after all the wine and different liquors, Damien is just drunk. He starts telling a story in Italian! A very good Italian actually, partly mixed with Spanish but you get the point. He told us he moved to Tuscany at some point, in this farm where there was him and what he called a "dama inglese" (and english... lady, maybe?)
His Italian and drunk gestures made it all very funny.

At one point he was so drunk he couldn't remember the lyrics of the songs, and started asking for internet. We requested What This Night Is For and he accepted to play it, but I was looking for the lyrics on the internet someone else requested Dogs and so he ended up playing that one.
I was holding the cellphone for him for Dogs and noticed he couldn't read lyrics very well. He was just drunk and messed up the words anyway.

When we reminded him about What This Night Is For, he just said he didn't remember the chords. I have a feeling that he just doesn't want to play it. Even earlier, when it was requested for the first time tonight, he sais something like "Jesus... wow... Jesus... that's... old..."
I think it brings back to memory something that he doesn't want to share with people and we need to respect that.
As well, I think he's in a "no Insane" moment right now, as it was requested a number of times tonight and in Rome too, and he never accepted the request.

Anyway, at some point someone asks for a new song. I was expecting Back To Her Man or No One Need Know.... but he plays Stoic. And then, Back To Her Man. I was in heaven.

Don't get your hopes too high regarding videos, anyway. At some point of the aftershow there were no more phones taping the songs. Maybe all the batteries died.
I tried to record Stoic but my phone is awful and it's probably an awful recording.

And well, then it was 5.45 and the sun started to appear. He just looked super tired, asked for breakfast, and then we all stood up to see the sun rise.
He said again that he loved Sicily, the people, the food, the wine, the weather, everything. He joked about buying a house in Siracusa or Noto (even launched a poll "which is better, Siracusa or Noto?" - and Siracusa won).

We all said goodbye, he hugged and thanked everyone and then I think he just went to sleep, finally.

The only negative thing was Stef and Marti leaving at some point in the night, I think because Stefan had an early flight. Really a shame that they missed Stoic.

oh, something I was forgetting but was actually super cool. There was this violinist that brought the violin and played with Damien. He played really well I think. Songs like Amie, Colour Me In, and it made Mustard Seeds even more unique. A real treat.

Anyway, setlists:


MAIN GIG // Teatro Antico, Taormina

1 - Cannonball
2 - Delicate
3 - Elephant
4 - 9 Crimes
5 - Tursty and True
6 - The Box
7 - I Remember
8 - The Greatest Bastard
9 - Cold Water >
10 - Long Long Way
11 - Accidental Babies (on request - extended version with a "what about me" looped outro)
12 - It Takes A Lot To Know A Man
13 - Cheers' Darlin (on request - drinking four or five glasses of wine)
14 - The Blower's Daughter (unplugged)

Start: 9.45 pm
End: 11.40 pm
Total time: 1h55'

AFTERSHOW

// Via Teatro Greco, Taormina
1 - Volcano

// Piazza Santa Caterina, Taormina
2 - Ciuri Ciuri (Alfonso)
3 - Sicilian Medley (Alfonso)
4 - Amie (with Vincenzo Di Silvestro on violin)
5 - The Professor & La Fille Danse

// Piazza Duomo, Taormina
6 - I Don't Want To Change You
7 - I Had A Good Mother and Father (Fabrizio Cammarata)
8 - Mustard Seeds (with Vincenzo Di Silvestro on violin)
9 - I'm Sorry (Federico)
10 - Domani è Domenica (Vincenzo Di Silvestro)
11 - Grey Room
12 - Hallelujah
13 - Six o' Clock (Alessandro - with Damien on backing vocals)
14 - Myriam (Fabrizio Cammarata)
15 - My Favourite Faded Fantasy
16 - Colour Me In (with Vincenzo Di Silvestro on violin)
17 - Creep (by fans)
18 - Rootless Tree (duet with a girl playing guitar)
19 - Lonelily
20 - Dogs
21 - La Llorona (Fabrizio Cammarata)
22 - Long Shadows (Fabrizio Cammarata)
23 - Stoic
24 - Down Down (Fabrizio Cammarata)
25 - Back To Her Man
26 - Antananarive (Fabrizio Cammarata)

Start: 1.30 am
End: 5.50 am
Total Time: 4h20'