My Tasteless Venture? My Troubled Vision?

I am glad I am currently being spared the torture Sandy is being exposed to (his last blog entry is clearly a cry for help) but I am getting my very own brand of mainstream fun over here in Milan. Because yes folks, yesterday was MTV Day here in Italy - and not just any MTV Day, but MTV Italia's 10th birthday. Let us have a minute of silence here (switch brain dial to mourning or awe at own discretion). In honour of the occasion (as every year, really, but this year was advertised as being extra-special) a free day of concerts was held both in Rome and in Milan, the line-up this year consisting exclusively of Italian acts (other years artists such as the Black Eyed Peas performed, apparently).

These events are always both special and irritating in their inescapable nature because they are held on the 'piazza' (square) in front of the famous Duomo. This place is the absolute central hub of the city - wherever you are going and whatever you are doing, you are likely to pass through it or at least near it. A bit like Cambridge market place, just a few times bigger. So, MTV monopolized this for three days - day one occupied with building up the stage, day two with soundchecks, and day three with the event itself. This means they really went all out - usually, stages are set up the night before or even on the day itself, and dismantled immediately afterwards. Having a stage up for three days is, I think, a never-been-seen-before thing, unless I'm just completely oblivious.

Because they are obviously marketing geniuses (otherwise, we would no longer have MTV) the people in charge refused to divulge any more details on the line-up except which artists would be there: the order of appearance was not announced, and much less the time of each performance. Considering I was just interested in one act out of the 6 or 7 that would be playing between 16.30 and 23:00 or later, this was more than a little annoying.

I headed into town for just after five and found myself smack bang right in the middle of every 15 year old scenester the city and all surrounding cities could offer up. Having assured myself that the singer I wanted to see wouldn't be on for another while, I decided to make my escape from amongst the kids attempting to hand me 30 Seconds To Mars flyers or plastering me with Tokio Hotel stickers. One coffee and a walk later, I found myself close to Piazza Duomo again where I found this: so much better than what was going on just around the corner. This is what music is about: our human minds automatically drawn in and fascinated and compelled to dance. Dear MTV, by all rights the world should not need you and your overblown flashyness. So it goes. At the same time, there is a certain compelling nature to this twisted union between the epitome of pop culture and history, and it's worth attending these events just for the feel of being there. I mean, do you get open-air gigs in the middle of the city in London (parks don't count)?

Anyway, I eventually settle down on a corner and witness Italian super-pop-star Tiziano Ferro's rather shameful appearance - whether it be due to the technical difficulties they were having earlier or simply because of his/MTV's stupidity, he played all of three songs (Ti Scattero Una Foto, Stop! Dimentica, and one whose name I don't know). Whoever came over just to see him (and I am sure there were many) must feel endlessly cheated now. He also goes into a lengthy glorifying thank you to MTV for modernizing Italy's attitude to music - to be fair, I do not doubt that they had a fair bit to do with the international success he has had, and in the end who can blame him? It's always difficult for non-English-speaking acts to break out of their home country in terms of fame.

The problem with MTV and particularly MTV Italia is that everyone loves to hear themselves talk far too much. The presenters on MTV Italia are celebrities in their own right, and there is a massive cult of personality around them. The breaks inbetween acts are filled with boring interviews that are mostly opportunities for the presenters to flirt with the artists and of course a bit of 'making the audience feel special' isn't missing as someone prowls down the front of the crowd with a microphone asking people the standard 'so where did you travel from today' MTV-popularity-asserting questions.

Following Tiziano are Italian hip hop (often merged with rock) act Articolo 31 (who don't appear to have an official myspace page) who are fun to watch simply because they seem to be having such a good time on stage. I don't really have anything else to say about them, except that from the limited amount I've heard their songs do actually contain a fair amount of lyrical value.

Inbetween acts, the lights on stage spell out predictably clichee slogans from 'action' to 'dreams' to 'beats' to 'pop', 'rock', 'metal', 'hiphop', 'dieci' (ten), 'ten yrs', 'disco' , 'mtv' and of course 'milano'.

Finally (at around 21:45. Figures.), the woman I've been waiting for takes the stage: Carmen Consoli (who doesn't appear to have an official myspace page, either). The woman plays pop-rock often with distinct roots in traditional Italian music and has the voice of a fallen angel. It's what I tend to appreciate about famous Italian female singers: their voices are unique and character-filled, so that you'd never mistake one for another. She steps out on stage in a flowing purple dress with a red little glowing heart in her hair, looking absolutely adorable. The performance falls a little flat in parts, and I am predisposed to blame the setting and MTV get-up for it (call me a pretentious scene kid when I say the atmosphere just wasn't quite right). But overall, she doesn't fail to enchant in consideration of the circumstances and her voice is if anything more compelling live. Essentially, this has been a little free taste and next time she has a concert in Milan I'll (hopefully) be getting a ticket....

I decide to skip the remaining interview idiocies as well as last act because I've more than had my fill of MTV for the day: when even live music manages to look and sound a bit too plastic and manufactured is when I start to worry.