CHon Nevergreen (Perfect Strangers)on air this evening at 9.20pm on Rai 3 e on RaiPlay, Francesco De Gregori tells his story through his less famous songs. The docufilm, directed by Stefano Pistolini and presented in the Out of Competition section at the latest Venice Film Festival, is the chronicle of a month of concerts in 2024 at the theater Out Off of Milan where the singer-songwriter proposed for 20 evenings an alternating setlist of 70 songs that never became Evergreen.
Nevergreen Francesco De Gregori, the doc on Rai 3
In the wake of Bruce Springsteen’s experiment, which in 2018 played every night at the Walter Kerr Theater on Broadway in front of a small audience of fans, Francesco De Gregori offers the same musical experience. From 29 October to 23 November 2024, atOut Off of Milan, held 20 concerts in one month for an audience of just 200 people.
Although the choice appears rather eccentric, he made them discover and rediscover around seventy pieces from his repertoire in rotation, never became classics. Less Rimmel or Titanic and more Travel companions And Street of poverty. However, there is no shortage of surprises such as Alice, Long live Italy And Goodnight Little Flowera real hit, a very sweet ballad written in 1975.
On stagein the company of his historic band, many Italian artists alternate with whom to duet and also interpret other people’s songs. With Malika Ayane proposes False movement And Pieces of glass. With Elisa Those who remain and the cult Can’t Help Falling in Love by Elvis Presley. Sugar Fornaciari proposes its splendid Diamond and that of Fred Neil from 1968, Everybody’s Talkin’. A success that is part of the soundtrack of A man from the sidewalk by John Schlesinger. With Ligabue There are Alice, Goodnight to Italy and with Jovanotti A city for singing.
A tour with concert chamber atmospheres which became a real film. Stefano Pistolini (We went out a lot at night) has intelligently chosen not to propose yet another boring, hagiographic biography. The director instead captures a rare and sacred moment of intimacy between an artist and her audienceto which he shows previously unpublished stories of life in music.
De Gregori and the meaning of Nevergreen
Regarding the title of the documentary film, the singer explained in an interview that he had fun inventing it starting from macaronic English. «It starts from Evergreenthat is, famous songs that remain over time, and becomes Nevergreen: the songs that never became famous and perhaps never will. Even though then, when I did these concerts in 2024, I realized that the public knew them all.”
No great classics? “Nothing RimmelNothing The cannon womanNothing General. These concerts they were created precisely to give space to the songs that remained on the margins”. «The film is not the classic celebratory documentary in which the artist talks about himself and his friends talk about how good he is. That formula bores me. We simply wanted to show a musician and his band at work: the trials, the mistakes, the concerts, the improvisation. It’s an uncoated, almost grunge film».
Schedule and duration of the documentary film, also streaming on RaiPlay
Evergreen, the docufilm on Francesco De Gregori directed by Stefano Pistolini, this evening on Rai 3 at 9.20pm and then streaming on RaiPlay, it has a duration of 89 minutes. The setlist contains many songs that can be defined as secondarynever became hits.
I hear the steam whistle
Things
Two gypsies
Street of poverty
Four dogs
False movement (with Malika Ayane)
Pieces of glass (Malika Ayane solo)
The violinist’s dress
Warm and dark
Stelutis alpinis (with Elisa)
Can’t Help Falling in Love (with Elisa)
Those who remain (with Elisa)
Travel companions
Drift
A city for singing (with Jovanotti)
San Lorenzo
The chef from Salò
Alice (with Ligabue)
Goodnight to Italy (with Ligabue)
Atlantis
Buffalo Bill
Everybody’s Talkin’ (with sugar)
Diamond (with sugar)
Like the day (with sugar)
Right or wrong
Damn the music
Goodnight little flower
Francesco De Gregori for “Nevergreen”. (Ipa Agency)
What De Gregori said: Gaza controversy
The career of Francesco De Gregori, Just turned 75has always alternated intense albums with years waiting for inspiration. A musical path shared for 50 years with his wife Francesca Gobbi, who died in 2023, to whom he had been married since 1978. A singer-songwriter belonging to a generation that alternated music with civil commitment and the heart on the left.
Despite strong political ideas, the recent opinion expressed on the role of artists in international affairsshocked his fans. He explained that he feels embarrassed when an entertainer declares his side. «I raise awareness through the songs I write, not with what I say. I don’t make proclamations, because I’m not superior to anyone to say what position to take on Gaza or Israel.”
«To quote Whitman “I contain multitudes”, my thought is not totalitarian and I don’t want to give or take lessons from anyone, much less from a showman, what qualifications do you have to do so?». There were many reactions from colleagues like Vasco Rossiwho defined him as a poet, not a politician seeking consensus like Salvini. For Elisa, however, the artist has the right to always take sides.