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New Goblin live in Australia!

Coming to Australia for the very first time, New Goblin will play a one-off show on The Grand Organ the 21st of November at the Melbourne Town Hall, during the claimed Melbourne Music Week (more info here).

The price of the tickets for this concert is 40 AUD (all the tickets on pre-sale at the reduced price of 30 AUD are now sold-out) but tickets sold on the door at the night of the concert will be more expensive (if still available!!).

New Goblin will play in the prestigious and really gorgeous Grand Organ hall in the Melbourne Town Hall in which are installed two grand organs, the first one from 1872 (rebuilt in 1905) with 4735 pipes, the second, built in 1929, stands at 32 feet high and has 6024 pipes the largest being the ‘tibia profunda’. I expect that Claudio Simonetti will take this great opportunity and will play on this beautiful grand organ ‘Profondo Rosso’, ‘Roller’ and maybe some classic improvisations.

So if you live in Australia don’t miss this unique chance!!

New Goblin next concerts.

New Goblin will return to perform in Japan. On August 25 the band will take part in the Progressive Rock Fest 2012 in Tokyo, which have on the bill also Van Der Graaf Generator and John Lees' Barclay James Harvest. New Goblin will be the first group to play on the stage of the Hibiya Open Air Theatre situated inside an arena like in ancient times.

On September 22 New Goblin will perform in the United States, New Jersey, but at the moment the place of the show is still unknown. Twelve years after the failure of the live concert-reunion of Goblin at the Cult-con (with tragic consequences for all fans of the group in his classic line-up and in 'Goblin sette note in rosso' you will find all the embarrassing behind the scenes), this will be the first appearance on the American soil.

Hope this time everything goes well!

New Goblin live in Brussels. Review.

This blog has given to me the opportunity to get in touch with some people (before unknown) that have proven to be incredibly friendly, enthusiastic and empathic.

Peter, a Belgian Goblin fan, is certainly among these persons. Few months ago he knew from my blog that New Goblin were about to perform a concert in Brussels. Peter attended the concert last Tuesday and sent me his review, here it is:

“New Goblin – Live at the Ancienne Belgique, Brussels, Belgium – 05.06.2012

Being a Goblin fan ever since I first laid eyes and ears on "Zombi - Dawn of the Dead" almost 25 years ago, I was ecstatic to learn this highly influential Italian prog-rock band would visit Belgium, for the first time ever.

To be precise, "New Goblin" consists of Goblin founders Claudio Simonetti and Massimo Morante and Goblin member Maurizio Guarini, along with Daemonia members Titta Tani and Bruno Previtali.

For this venue, the Ancienne Belgique had filled the main hall with seats, which resulted in a capacity of 730 people.  It wasn’t completely sold out, as there were still tickets available on the evening of the event.

Arriving a couple of hours early, I was able to obtain a nice seat in the front row, since security had informed me it was not allowed to stand in front of the stage.  This may seem strange for a rock concert, but this show was somewhat ambiguously promoted through advertisements stating: "Goblin plays live to film / Dario Argento: Profondo Rosso".  So when people picked their seats, they did so in the same manner as if they were going to watch a movie.  I suspect some may have been disappointed in this regard.

I had the feeling that most people in attendance were fans of Dario Argento’s films (and rightfully so!) while the minority knew of the band’s early non-soundtrack efforts such as "Roller" or "…Bagarozzo Mark".  The main theme from "Suspiria" was clearly the moment everybody had been waiting for.

 As I expected, the show itself was very similar to the "Official bootleg" live DVD and "Live in Roma" CD.  So imagine the same set list (closing with the encore "Zaratozom") and the same video images projected on the background.  Excluding all solo moments there was little to no improvisation.  Which is exactly what was a bit lacking: while the original Goblin could be pigeonholed as a progressive rock band with jazz elements and hypnotic percussion, New Goblin often more resembled Daemonia with its heavy metal (or hard rock) influenced sound walls and chord progressions.  And that is just an observation, not a complaint, as I simply cannot say anything negative about this powerful and (for me personally) emotional performance.  It was truly a privilege to see these legendary musicians at work.

 The band seemed to enjoy playing and held together very well.  While Simonetti brought along a Jupiler (typical Belgian beer) on stage, Morante proved he hasn’t lost that magical touch.  It’s simply a blast to watch Simonetti and Guarini dueling/complementing each other with their keyboards, still favoring the 'phat' analog Moog sound and hitting the ivory as if it were child’s play.  I also appreciated the amount of music that was actually being played live, because they could have easily used more pre-recorded midi tracks or tapes like many musicians prefer nowadays. 

Yes, there were occasions where not every player was absolutely in sync, the sound mix could have been better balanced in some places and one has to wonder why footage from “Suspiria” was accompanying the theme from “Tenebrae”, but honestly I couldn’t care less: this was an evening to cherish forever.

 Maybe it was due to the fact that the majority of the crowd only recognized the soundtrack music, or that we were forced to sit down the entire time, but the ambiance in the room was not entirely overpowering, maybe even somewhat subdued.  I must admit however, it is typical for a Belgian audience (of an older generation) to be polite and respectful, rather than go berserk like a teenager having his first beer.  But had there been the opportunity to stand up, it would certainly have improved the party-quotient in the room.

 After about 90 minutes, when the first (and sadly last) encore was over, I left my seat and got up close to genuinely show my appreciation to the band.  Luckily, others had followed and Simonetti quickly realized the crowd wanted more, so he announced that the band would come out shortly to sign some stuff and talk to the fans.

Which is what they did.  All of them sported enough English language skills to have a meaningful conversation, and they gladly signed whatever we handed to them.  For a band that’s been around for nearly 40 years and doesn’t really have a strong Belgian fan base (if any), they still went out of their way to please us.  I hope they know just how much we appreciated their friendliness, generosity and patience.

 Overall, I applaud the organizers for setting up this event as I can’t imagine Goblin being very well known here (hence the deliberately 'confusing' advertising methods mentioned above) and I sincerely hope they will bring us more Goblin in the near future.”.

A big thank to Peter for his in-deep review and for having tried by every means to get me a poster of the concert. Eventually he succeeded, thanks to the courtesy of Claudio Simonetti that gave to Peter his own poster for me. So many many thanks to Claudio Simonetti too!!

Simonetti while was in Belgium gave some interviews, here are the links to a couple, the first in french with soundclips, the second in english.

http://blog.lesoir.be/frontstage/2012/06/04/goblin-angoisse-a-litalienne/

http://www.agendamagazine.be/en/blog/sound-horror

Orgasmo Sonore 'Revisiting obscure film music volume 1’.'

The deep influence that Goblin have exercised and still exercise on many musicians can easily 'measured' by observing the large number of artists who pay homage to the italian band performing Goblin songs. In 'Goblin sette note in rosso' I tried to mention all the covers of Goblin songs made over the years, starting from 1975 - it is an interesting topic and a new perspective that deserves a separate post - here I would simply point out that while some covers are due to purely economic reasons (to include a song in an anthology without paying the rights for the original track), others are the result of the true love that the artist has for that particular piece of music.

In this second category I put without any doubt the operation 'Orgasmo Sonore' to whom I dedicate this post. The first LP of this mysterious group (it should be a 'one man band' settled in Canada) is available and is subtitled "Revisiting obscure film music vol. 1". The album contains twelve tracks, ten of which are songs taken from soundtracks, mostly Italian, among which I appreciated the renditions of Chaser (from 'Il corpo', Piero Umiliani), Ecologia del delitto (Stelvio Cipriani ), L’attesa (from 'Incubo nella città contaminata', Stelvio Cipriani), Zombi 2 seq. 1 (Fabio Frizzi) and Connexion (from 'Contamination', Goblin). Listening to the album shines through clearly the passion profuse in the project and the respect for the original compositions. Orgasmo Sonore recreated the sound and maintained the arrangements using actual instruments and so, for example, the bass drum beat at the beginning of Zombi 2 seems to me obtained by hitting the microphone with a finger as in the original track (something that very few know so compliments!). I was pleasantly impressed by the quality of the recording that is really good, like hearing an album from the '70s which demonstrate that working with care and dedication can overcome the coldness of the digital recordings.

The album, produced in a limited edition of two hundred copies in a beautiful amber colored vinyl, is available at specialized shops but can be requested directly by writing to orgasmo.sonore@gmail.com. In this case, together with the LP, you’ll receive a ‘backup’ CD at the price of $ 15, plus shipping charges.

Goblin fans will like the version of Connexion and the LP also include Sandra's theme (ika La dolce Sandra) and L’attesa, taken respectively from 'Solamente nero' and 'Incubo nella città contaminata', two soundtracks recorded with Goblin members as session musicians.

Orgasmo Sonore has also created a nice video for Connexion that reminds me, as well as Contamination, the terrible (and thus for many a cult movie) Rats by Bruno Mattei.

On You Tube is also available a video with a cover of Pillage (from 'Buio omega') a track not included in the LP.

Orgasmo Sonore is working currently on the Volume 2 of this praiseworthy 'Revisiting obscure film music' which should also include a cover of 'Incubi ricorrenti' from 'Solamente nero'. I heard the first minute of this track and it promises well.

Good job Orgasmo Sonore!!

"Live in Roma" double LP album.

The readers who has had the luck to live in the '70s, an amazing era for rock music, know well the symbolic value that assumed for a band the release of a double live LP. If usually a single live album marked a major step in the career of a group still on the rise, the relaese of a double live LP indicated unequivocally that the rock band had made it, usually putting an end to years of exhausting tours and frenzied activity and opening another, sometimes marked by significant changes in the style. The double live album was basically a statement of the success achieved and it was the perfect way to reproduce a full live show, offering to the largest audience the opportunity to hear the musicians in action in the perfect place for a rock band is: on stage. Even graphically the double LP gave great satisfaction to fans: gatefold covers full of live photos often also shown on the inner sleeves, sometimes brochures with more photos, posters and other goodies (some band even put tattoos!) made these albums memorable.

Now, thanks to AMS, also New Goblin can claim to have a double live LP. In fact the label from Milan has crafted a sulfuric vinyl edition of 'Live in Roma', which certainly does not bring improvements in terms of audio quality but comes with new graphics really catchy emphasing the Italian roots of the band, a cover that I greatly prefer to the one on the standard CD version. AMS, as for Nonhosonno, has released 'Live in Roma' in five vinyl colors: transparent, yellow, blue, red and orange. This is a limited edition and it is clear that if the 'normal' fans will choose a single color, the super (or manic) fans will be forced to buy five copies of the same album by this astute and malicious marketing choice.

Next time I suggest AMS to directly market a version for the die hard fans gathering all the colors and maybe a booklet, a poster, some stickers (and even tattoos!).

“Live in Roma” was released even in Japan, here is the CD cover:

Simonetti and Guarini live at the "Shock Stock 2012".

The 14^th of april Guarini and Simonetti have shook the foundations of the Rum Runners, during a special concert that was part of the convention 'Shock Stock 2012' in London, Ontario. The duo was supported by Chris Gartner and Bob Scott, the expert musicians that play with Guarini in the (occasional) live performances on the Canadian soil (the keyboardist, wisely, moved from Italy to Canada more than a decade ago ), so, to be pedantic, was an exhibition of Orco Muto featuring Simonetti!

The online version of Fangoria announced for that night even a live performance of a suite from 'Dracula 3D' by Simonetti and some songs from Fulci/Frizzi films by Guarini, but the concert focused on the Goblin / Simonetti repertoire with this set list:

L’alba dei morti viventi, Mad puppet, Dr. Frankenstein, Zombi, Simonetti classical solo, Phenomena (guest Gina Ferrugia), Profondo rosso, Tenebre. Encores: Demons, Halloween, Opera, Tubular Bells (the last one improvised by Simonetti but well played by the band).

Audience happily shocked, crowded room and very positive comments.

The performance of Joanna Angel, the tattooed porno actress who was supposed to introduce the performance of Simonetti and Guarini with a "zombie dance", was although preventively stopped by the police.

The local authorities decided to censor her show, a decision surely not welcomed by the Shock Stock staff and by the audience. Maybe they had a point ...

Some news from Goblin world.

On April 14, Claudio Simonetti and Maurizio Guarini will held an unique live performance. "The Goblin Keys" will take part in the Canadian horror convention SHOCK STOCK. The concert will take place at 185 Queens Ave, London, Ontario.

New Goblin some months ago announced their return on the stages but until now the only confirmed date (not by New Goblin but by the organizers) is the 5th of June 2012 in Brussels. Here is the link for more information:

http://www.abconcerts.be/fr/concerts/p/detail/goblin-profondo-rosso-05-06-2012
The show will be held at the historic club AB, the "Temple of rock music" in Brussels

Marangolo and Pignatelli, the two leaders of Goblin Rebirth, will held a master class titled “Goblin sound. Il progressive nelle colonne sonore” ("Goblin sound. Progressive rock music in film scoring") the 12th of May 2012, from 4 pm to 7 pm, in Trani, Italy. The seminar is part of the activities of the 'Scuola sul mare' a school for musician which counts among the teachers even Agostino Marangolo. For more info:

http://scuolasulmare.com/master-class/12052012-goblin-sound/

New Goblin "Live in Roma" and "Two concerts in Tokyo".

The label No Music No Life has published on the 6th of march the New Goblin album "Live in Roma". The double digipack CD, distributed by Self, is sold at major stores and soon will be available on vinyl as a double LP published by BTF / AMS.

A band self-produced Canadian edition of “Live in Roma” is now available at the New Goblin site. The double CD has a slightly different cover than the Italian edition with the band logo drawn in silver.

"Live in Roma" will be released even in Japan April 18, 2012.

On the New Goblin official site is now available the DVD "Two concerts in Tokyo" that features the two concerts held by New Goblin in Kawasaki, 4 and 5 November 2011 during the 'Italian Progressive Rock Festival'. It is an 'official bootleg' release, an amateur shooting filmed with a single camera and without any editing but it’s approved by the band. The DVD has a length of 193 minutes.

'Patrick' and 'Contamination' albums reissued on LP.

AMS has reissued the Goblin’s LPs 'Patrick' and 'Contamination'.  

These are the first vinyl reissues for these albums that, since the Cinevox publication in 1979-1980, had been reissued only on CD, first in Japan by SLC and then by Cinevox (the latter in extended versions, enriched with unpublished material).

 

The AMS reprints faithfully reproduce the covers of the original editions, including the labels.

AMS is selling 'Patrick' and 'Contamination' at 20 euros. The original LPs are quoted around 50 euros but outside e-bay they aren’t so easy to find.