9 December, 2001, Tenax, Florence, Italy

review by sara

Ciao
this is my personal opinion about the Show at the Tenax (Firenze 12-9-2001 Italia)
OK, mmm...what can I say...well, the show began about at 10.30 pm (not at 9.00 pm) and started with a solo "psychedelic" performance of the `second' guitarist ( I'm sorry I didn't grasp his name, but when I'll send my photos to you, you'll surely will help me to understand who he is !) I have to be very sincere, my impression was that nothing was ready in that moment, and someone (or he himself) proposed to make that solo performance to entertain the audience!! It really looked as an improvisation…
Well, then the show began with Pendulum ( I'll send my photo of the complete song list)
There was not so much people at the Tenax (I do think we were some hundred and that situation allowed me to move in the place to take photos from different angles )...
I wanna arrive to the mean point: well, I was been absolutely enraptured by the show
Mark's performance was simply perfect, faultless! I never seen Mark live and I felt so thrilled, over the moon! My hands never stopped to sweat! It was a GREAT emotion to hear his voice live, I felt like I found a refuge in His cave (I just mean his deep lungs)
All the show was so rocking…no keyboards on the stage, just Mark, two guitars, drum and bass
Well, I had no expectations about what I was going to see – hear, but it exceeded any my potential hope...
Now I'm going to say something too personal, definitely, but I was just perplexed about the tense atmosphere between Mark and the situation around Him…I don't really know, I just can suppose He was worried about something technical, maybe the acoustics (I couldn't check that `cause I was sat down right on the stage, on the left corner, under a big speaker) or perhaps He was just irritated about something or what I really think ( and for the hundredth time I repeat it's just my personal idea) is that He was such worried about the `second' guitar performance, that, I have to admit, was not "immaculate".
Another thing I noticed was that there was such a hurry! I mean that there was just about 5 minutes between the firs and the second part of the show and between the end and the bis ( I hope it was just because the show began very late!!) anyway the show had been going on till about midnight...
All the things I said don't mean to reduce the quality of the performance, I could repeat thousands of times it was GREAT! Yeah! I can undoubtedly say that it was the best concert I've ever enjoyed! After the show I heard someone said He was not professional !! Well, I can't know what someone expected to see, but I do guess that some people there expected to see Him moving and jumping on the stage, and they were such confused to see Him always stuck at the microphone!!
Oh God! Why people always compare a rock performer to a circus animal! He was so much more than professional, He was professionally impeccable! I was gone there to enjoy music and He gave me ecstasy! That's all...

this was about half of the setlist... Got some troubles following and remembering but the central part was very beautiful and ended with "Hotel"
Pendulum
Borracho
One Way Street
I'll Take Care Of You
Field Songs
No Easy Action
Miracle ...
Don't Forget Me ...
Hotel ...
On Jesus' Program
ENCORE 1 ... Fix ...
ENCORE 2 Creeping coastline of lights
The show took place at Tenax, the atmosphere was cousy, quite hot and people in frontline were crazy and happy. Good sound, the show has been opened by a guitar-voice act by Brad (or Brett) anyway the second guitar of the live band. Please add it if you know the line-up.

review by Marco

Florence, more or less 500 people (the only italian concert not sold out), but the Tenax is the ideal club to allow this "square" line-up to give out the best from itself and in effect this will be the best concert that I see (even if I include the live at Binariozero, three years ago). I ask to Mike when he'll decide to bring out new album, I understand next summer but I'm not sure.

Brett excites the audience with some distorted songs doubled by guitar effects. In all about thirty minutes of interesting music and at the end a ultraslow version of Saturday Night Special, from Lynyrd Skynyrd album Nuthin' Fancy (1975). Before the show Mark introduces "his friend Jeff", the stage manager, because many people thought he was Mark or his brother (they are as like as two peas and a lot of people discharged roll of film on him). The band is relaxed and resolute at the same time, all songs from the last album have undergo a profitable electric treatment. Mark finds time between the songs to say something (only "thanks a lot" but he asks also a cigarette to the first rows: two or three inhaled, he throws away the cigarette, sings the song, picks up the cigarette, another heavy aerosol). The show confirm the strong impact of the sound of this tour (particularly about guitar lines of Mike, tonight very wild), with some little quiet jewel like Field Song or Bell Black Ocean. Four songs more than yesterday: three from Field Songs and the second encore Creeping Coastline Of Lights.