Told by one who moved from Turin’s surroundings to Brighton especially for the city’s music scene, Lorenzo Ottone explains why you need to ditch Brighton for the northern Italian city this summer.
When one’s in Brighton – with the sea and one the best club scenes for emerging indie and psych acts – he could see no point in flying to Italy for a music festival. But, yes, apart from the sun and the cuisine – let me reinforce the usual stereotypes thus I’m not sporting black moustache – there’s a good reason to pack your luggage and leave for Turin this August (26-28). ToDays Festival is happening for its second edition, promising to be the most interesting music event in the peninsula this summer.
If you are music geeks, first of all, Turin should be on your map far before classic landmarks such as Venice, Rome or Capri because of its musical history; a city that could be defined modernist for its capability of always being one step beyond in terms of youth subcultures and music trends. Cradle to the first Italian beatniks in the 60s and stronghold of ’79 mods, Turin also played a pivotal role for new wave, 80s psych-garage and electronic music.
After years of discontinuity and incapability of keeping home the trends launched, ToDays is part of that cultural rebirth the Sabaudian city has been chasing at length. The festival has the perk of simultaneously facing the city’s past of Italian motown – it was there that FIAT had its headquarters in its glory years – and its post-industrial reality. The venues are the clearest example with the post-industrialism of the former INCET (National Electric Cables Industry Turin) factory on one hand, and the modernity of sPAZIO211 club’s garden, Contemporary Art Museum Ettore Fico, Art Gallery Gagliardi and Domke, and eco-friendly urban park Aurelio Peccei, on the other.
The lineup further cleverly mixes tradition with innovation: shoegaze heroes Jesus & Mary Chain, West Coast 60s psych-garage fetishists Brian Jonestown Massacre, alt-rock and dance duo Soulwax, film producer and soundtrack maestro John Carpenter and M83 are accompanied by newcomers of both international and domestic appreciation including Goat, Local Natives, Cristal Fighters, Giuda, I Cani, Motta, IoSonoUnCane, Pugile, Stearica and Victor Kwality among the others.
If no words are needed for acts as J&M Chain or BJM well-known in the UK, the British audience could have some pleasant surprises by listening to I Cani’s synth-led indie-pop or to Giuda’s boot-stomping rudeboy glam (recently supported by Hastings’ Thee Jezebels).
ToDays is also able to interpret Turin’s artistic spirit with music-meets-arts exhibitions and talks with journalists, artists and designers within art galleries, where you can also catch Italy’s latest song-writing revelation Calcutta.
ToDays Festival comes to Turin on August 26th-28th with tickets starting from just €23,00 (under £20). Further information and detailed gig and venue line-ups can be found at www.todaysfestival.com.
