Behind the numbers of the Ultimo concert-event in Tor Vergata (250 thousand people, 16 million euros in revenue), two readings are possible. One positive and one negative. Let’s start with the latter. The concert was, in fact, an event. No tiring tours with the risk of finding half-empty stadiums, but a single concert announced a year in advance in order to create, in fact, an event that the fan cannot miss.
Seeing your favorite or, even more so, hearing what he sings or how his musicians play at this point becomes an insignificant detail (there was 800 meters of distance between the first and last rows): the important thing is to find yourself singing all together. And this is precisely the positive aspect of Ultimo’s success: as Renato Zero did in the 70s with his “sorcini”, the singer-songwriter from San Basilio was able to create a strong community around himself built around the narrative of the boy “born on the edge of the suburbs” to quote another reference of his, Eros Ramazzotti, who made it thanks to talent and sacrifices.
A narrative that will not shine precisely for originality, but seeing so many young people happy and excited, before, during and after the concert, was perhaps the most beautiful sight. Ultimo, in short, presents himself to the public as the last heir of a Roman songwriting tradition made up of good feelings that from Claudio Baglioni passes through Antonello Venditti and, as we were saying, from Renato Zero to Eros Ramazzotti, adding to the high level of romanticism a tendency towards victimism towards critics who are unable to fully appreciate his talent which only increases his appeal towards his audience, with that air of “we are different from them”.
Where they are not only journalists (one of his spats at Sanremo 2019 is memorable because the press preferred Mahmood who then, in fact, won); but they are also the ugly dirty and bad rappers that the other half of young people like. In short, either you are with Ultimo (or with the Nuclear Tactical Penguins to name another) or you are with Sfera Ebbasta and company. On the sidelines of the mega concert, the choice of Niccolò Moriconi’s entourage was excellent bear the costs of keeping the subway open even at night to encourage the return home of the fans and credit to him for writing the songs himself in a world in which he defines us as songwriters even if we have legions of authors who sign the songs every time. As to how many of these songs will last over time, if in ten years we will be singing The Dance of Uncertainties like This Little Big Love or Remember Me, we have strong doubts. But for this year, as Ultimo said, “we are in history”. For next year he has already announced a real tour in stadiums throughout Italy. And the duel with Vasco Rossi (who complimented him) will be repeated. The Komandante plans to gather 500 thousand faithful in ten dates at the Circus Maximus. Who knows what Ultimo will invent.
