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GRAHAM PARKER
April 5th, 2000: Zoo Bar, Torino, Italy
At 9.30 p.m. the Zoo Bar, a small club downtown Torino (the city of FIAT cars and Juventus), was already crammed with over 350 people in great expectation, patiently waiting for the show to begin at 11 p.m.. Graham had arrived from Rome by car in the afternoon accompanied by his 15-year old daughter Natalie and his tour manager, a nice Italian guy named Carlo. He dropped in at the Zoo Bar in the late afternoon for a short soundcheck and he tried out two songs: "Watch The Moon Come Down" (ac.) and "Durban Poison" (el.). He hang around for a while and then, together with the Zoo Bar’s owner and a few other friends of ours, we all went and had a typical Italian dinner at a restaurant nearby the club. Graham was in good temper, just a little bit tired for the long car trip from Rome, and enjoyed the food and the company, now and then throwing a glance to a football match on TV. He was often hylarious, friendly but he didn’t taste wine ("Never before a show" he said) preferring hot tea instead. After dinner, just the time to check in at the hotel for a shower (Natalie went to bed) and at 11 p.m. sharp Graham hit the stage, in his white T-shirt, black trousers and sunglasses, of course! He swung in into the show with a classic "Watch The Moon Come Down", followed by other hauntingly breautiful numbers. On the car ride to the the Zoo Bar we had asked him about the songs he was going to perform, suggesting some titles we would like to listen to, but he had been rather elusive. So it was a nice surprise when he dedicated "No Woman No Cry" by Bob Marley to my brother Roberto, who had asked him for that particular song. During the show Graham was rather talkative and you could see that he was at his ease, happy with himself and with the audience who knew all the lyrics of most of the songs that he was singing. Together with a couple of unreleased songs, in his 23-song set Graham delivered also a few covers of Peter Green and Sam Cooke’s tunes ("The World Keep On Turning" and a celestial a cappella "Cupid"), along with an impressive rendition of the Rolling Stones classic "Hip Shake". The show-stopper was a hypnotic "Don’t Let it Break You Down", but the crowd hadn’t had enough yet. Graham was generous, and he was back on the stage soon after for four more songs and ended up the show with a marvellous rendition of "You Can’t Be Too Strong" which he played softly and strong on the electric guitar. All in all, it was an unforgettable show in front of an estatic audience who could not ask for more. After the show, when Graham had relaxed for a little while in the backstage where he also met lots of fans and signed plenty of autographs, he jumped into our car and, together with a few friends of ours, we drove around the empty streets of Torino (in was 2 in the morning!) and completed the night having beer and french fries in one of the few pubs left open. Graham turned out to be the nicest of fellows, not at all stuck up, which you would not easily expect from a rock star (you can bet he is!). Thank you, Graham, good friend of the Italians, hope to meet you on the road again soon, someday, sometime.
Federico Boggio & Roberto Boggio
Setlist:
Encores: