Patty Pravo is testing the patience of her fans, with the longest gap between albums yet (6 years and counting). But in the meantime, she’s far from resting on her laurels, regularly appearing on TV and touring fairly extensively post-pandemic.

Only in 2023, I saw her live in Rome with the Minaccia Bionda programme. This year, she went on a summer tour of festival dates in smaller cities. The concert on 12 August in Pietrasanta near Pisa was part of the 46th Versiliana Festival. And I was there!

Hits, hits, hits…

If you read my impression of the 2023 show, you would know that Patty is my favourite Italian singer and I absolutely adore her. Seeing her live this year was like a dream come true all over again, and I think I had even more fun this time around! I’m sure that the open-air venue, La Versiliana Theatre, had something to do with it, being surrounded by woods and a short walk from the Ligurian Sea.

But primarily, it was the setlist. To my delight, Patty brought “Cieli immensi” back in the set, which was notably missing on the last tour. It deserves a permanent place in her live repertoire, not only as her last proper chart hit, but a stellar, touching song in its own right.

An even bigger surprise were her early singles “Tripoli 1969” and “Sentimento”. I was so in for that as over time, I have warmed up to Patty’s 60s material. Although top 5 hits back in the day, both tracks have been somewhat neglected in recent decades, but are seemingly back in the spotlight again.

Patty left most of her best-known songs at the end, serving evergreens of Italian pop music back to back. The audience was sure to sing along to the sensual (and somewhat controversial) 70s smashes “Pazza idea” and “Pensiero stupendo”, and the 1997 Sanremo comeback “…E dimmi che non vuoi morire”.

As if this hit-packed finale wasn’t enough, we were lucky to get an unexpected encore. Featuring none other than Loredana Bertè, another legend of Italian music! Sat in the audience all along, Bertè was impromptu called to the stage to duet with Patty on “Qui e là”. Personally longtime friends, the two ladies had a fantastic chemistry.

Covers made her own

Pravo chatted a fair amount with the audience and briefly introduced most songs. She even offered a candid anecdote about Lucio Battisti, “a true friend and a wonderful, normal person”, before launching into his mega hit “Il mio canto libero”. Later on, she honoured more of her artist friends as she took on songs by Gabriella Ferri (“Sempre”) and Vasco Rossi (“Un senso”).

She also threw in “I Giardini di Kensington”, a cover of Lou Reed’s “Walk on the Wild Side”, and “Les etrangers”, a wonderful rocked-up version of Harry Belafonte’s “Merci bon Dieu”.

Classic diva

Pravo was dressed in an elegant black blazer with white embellishments, designed by her personal assistant Simone Folco, who occasionally roamed around the back to film the show. She was every bit a diva, moving around the stage with grace and making elaborate hand gestures. Divine and unreachable.

But there were also moments when she was adorably human, like fighting a dry throat, or painfully pinching her finger on the mike stand.

Pravo is a rock artist through and through, but the repertoire showcased her artistic versatility. She handled the ethereal “Angelus” with the same ease as the commercial poppiness of “Il paradiso” and sentimental balladry of “Tutt’al più”.

New songs!

I was most excited about the two new singles. “Ratatan” was a fun opener with humorous Italian-English lyrics, bringing back the beat style of the 60s. “Ho provato tutto”, which this tour was named after, is a melodic reminiscence of a life full of adventures, including orgies and drugs, and even name-checking Jimi Hendrix. The song starts with a moody verse, only to take you by surprise with an explosive, pompous chorus.

Both tracks are a taste of a new album which Patty has reportedly completed and initially planned for an early 2024 release. What’s needed is a single to launch it at the Sanremo Festival, and I think that two failed attempts in a row must have complicated the rollout. But now, with Warner Music behind her back, let’s hope for a big Patty Pravo comeback in 2026!

Band

Daniele Natrella – drums
Elisabetta Pasquale – bass guitar, backing vocals
Alessandro Chimienti – guitar
Pino Iodice – guitar, backing vocals
Cristiana Morendi – sax, backing vocals
Luca Proietti – piano

Setlist

“Ratatan”, “Angelus”, “Ragazzo triste”, “Qui e là”, “Il paradiso”, “Il mio canto libero”, “Sempre”, “La bambola”, “Les etrangers”, “Morire tra le viole”, “Tripoli 1969”, “Sentimento”, “Un senso”, “Se perdo te”, “Ho provato tutto”, “I Giardini di Kensington”, “Tutt’al più”, “Cieli immensi”, “Pensiero stupendo”, “Pazza idea”, “…E dimmi che non vuoi morire”, “Qui e là” (with Loredana Bertè)

Are you new to Patty Pravo? Read more about her on Wikipedia, follow her on Instagram, and check out my all-Pravo YouTube playlist.