I
don't have detailed reviews of each gig musically. I can say this, there was
not a single gig that each band member did not go completely all out. I was
surprised to see Mauro yelling into the mic at each gig. Heck, I saw him have
the same intensity at the summer 2001 gig in San Diego, exactly. And Giuseppe,
same, possibly more intensity somehow, in 2001. But all 5 guys went at it at
every single gig full out. No holding back. I think they knew this was somethig
special and they were determined to not act casually about it. They were generally
happy and contented through the whole tour and I think one reason was because,
as much as I felt a rush 24 of 40 nights watching this incredible band, and
not getting bored after seeing show after show, and wanting to make my way to
be able to see as much of each show as I could, even though I was busy doing
tour guy stuff all night, it was clearly like an elixir for the band members
to be there performing their songs for the U.S. kids. And every single show
there was great welcome for them, possibly one around Phoenix where I noticed
less than full appreciation for their music. That is, possibly at that gig I
think I remember being a bit puzzled that most of the punx there didn't respond
as strongly as all the other gigs. Heck, it may not even have been Phoenix.
I forget. Welcome isn't so much the right way to put it. People were happy to
see 'em when they first showed up but once they played the audience almost always
got more and more into it cuz it was unrelenting and high quality punk rock
so by the time the set was over, and they went around 45 minutes, different
each show, the punx in attendance were enjoying the strong set. Somehow I also
think RAW POWER's genuineness also came across. It was the classic punk approach,
very little difference between the punk in the audience and the punk on stage.
That old rock barrier didn't exist in that there was no huddling back stage
or avoiding interacting with the kids at the gigs. Like most punk bands, even
today I think, they were just other guys, not any kind of stars and, well, as
you probably already know about punk yourself, it's one of the great things
we get to enjoy about punk that's missing in the big music business world. I've
been going to punk gigs again locally in the last coupla years and the same
lack of 'we're different from you cuz we're in a band' continues to exist. Makes
me happy. Makes me realize punk is actually really still quite alive. I remember
many conversations with many of the local punx who put on the respective shows
who told me afterward how happy they were to have seen RAW POWER and what a
great show it had been. In fact, it was easier to find a place to stay the night
after the show was over. I think many of the punx, and not all were dressed
in classic leather & mohawks, of course, most generally jeans & t-shirts
etc, did not know to expect so much show, so much energy and great songs and
the strong drumming and great guitar and Davide's showyness and Mauro's vocal
intensity and the full sound brought by Giuseppe's second guitar and Dode leaping
many times each show and the speed of the songs and how they ran together with
barely more than 1 or 2 seconds, literally, between almost each song. So, the
people who put us up, I wish I had a list or remember each night we stayed somewhere,
the people were happy to have us over. Let's see, actually, every single punk
who let us stay in their home, half were young adults on their own, half still
lived with their parents, were excellent hosts letting us crash in their living
rooms, use their showers and we weren't like wild drunk or rowdy or breaking
anything so we were good guests, very little drinking. no breaking anything
actually.
I
wondered during the tour what I would think of it as the years past. I suspected
that it could be a punk highlight of my life. It, of course, turned out to be.
As much pleasure as I've had sharing the music of 170 bands from 17 countries
with at least 10,000 punx much less how many copies were made of the tapes over
20 years, there's no question that the RAW POWER tour was a special event that
I got lucky enough to see almost completely. Someone had to be the guy making
sure stuff got taken care of and I was happy to do it. With their gentle attitudes
and cooperativeness and willingness to give it their all during each show, the
tour was a complete pleasure. Seeing 24 different punk scenes was a unique experience
as well. Since punk is not forced down our thoats by multi national corporations
punk grows organically in each city with only MRR and maybe Flipside and some
few zines and few touring bands and many records as a thread connecting the
scenes. Looking back I'd say the strongest years of original punk rock, on it's
biggest scale, with so many unique bands at the same time, 1984 was a peak of
that time. I've seen several bands who still please me from today. The NEIGHBORS
and REAGAN SS have blown me away. And 9 SHOCKS TERROR brought great punk vibrations
to this old punk. Meanwhile, even though it meant financial disaster and risk
we couldn't anticipate, it was well worth doing the tour. The bond developed
with RAW POWER guys has lasted a lifetime. And I made back my losses by auctioning
and then set selling a coupla thousand punk rock records in the late 80's, early
90's. So, punk rock came back to my rescue and many world punx got some great
out of print records that they wanted for reasonable prices.
RAW
POWER live in 2000
The Codeluppi brothers told me
that Helder almost joined the 2001 RAW POWER U.S. tour. What a treat that
would have been. I can only imagine what his drumming would have been like
for them now. BCT released a live tape of 43 of the songs from the
tour from 6 cities. It is not the best recording of all time but it does capture
on tape a good flavor of what actually happened as it is recordings of their
sets. If you want a copy of it, no matter where you live, I will give you
a copy for $2 total or for free with any BCT order. It was clear to me that
RAW POWER was not panting to become signed by some big music business. They
were not trying to be big rock stars. They were amiable with the locals and
had no rock star attitudes at all. They were honest and friendly. And I think
the reward for them was playing their music in front of American punx who
had never seen them before and many, I'm sure, who had not even heard them
before. Considering their airfare, which the band members paid for, I doubt
they ever made any profit from any of their U.S. tours. Mauro told me in 2001
that Giuseppe convinvced him to tour again and you could see why with Giuseppe
smiling so broadly and playing so enthusiastically that day last summer in
San Diego. The pleasure was playing the music. Giuseppe told me that he was
immortal because when he played it was magic and he was transported to a place
of extasy (that's not an exact quote but it's the heart of what he said to
me). God bless Giuseppe. And ciao Italian punx. Your punk rock heritage is
an amazing one and RAW POWER is one of the many many Italian punk bands that
made the early and mid 80's one of the most powerful and enjoyable musical
moments in the history of music. Just ask me, I'll vouch for it!
