Skip to main content

PATTI SMITH ON PIAZZA DEL CAMPO

People have the Power - Patti Smith
Piazza del Campo, summer 2012


I know Siena can get a little frustrating at times. If you're after night life that is. Un Tubo, the new music club called into life by Siena's famous restaurant Le Logge has already closed down. The amazing space - just recently finely restored by Montalcino architect Marco Pignattai - didn't last long. A few concerts, art events and jam sessions by Siena's Jazz school and six months after opening the manager of Un Tubo had to give in. Too much trouble with the town council, too little support from everybody else. (Positive update: Un Tubo is open again! Check for events and concerts here).

Last summer just when Un Tubo was opening up, we had an aperitif there before Patti Smith's fantastic concert in Piazza del Campo. We were all excited that Siena's town center was starting to get its night life back. If only! 

For the time being all we can do is to reminisce. Patti Smith's concert was stellar because she is Patti Smith. But also because of an ambiance on piazza del Campo that no other concert location can possibly measure up to. And even the moon played along. 



Who's that looking on behind la Torre del Mangia


Let's hope Patti is right. If people have the power, Siena can't but get more lively again at night.  

Update spring 2013: Luckily Un Tubo has reopened using a slightly different concept, but still proposing interesting gigs and fabulous ambiance. 

Popular posts from this blog

BEST BIKE RENTAL IN SIENA

Villa Catignano: one of the many beautiful places an e-bike can get you to from Siena A few years ago, I interviewed an American writer , who during her month-long stay in Siena whizzed through the city on a bicycle. This was an unusual sight - vespas are the two-wheelers of choice in Siena's hilly town center, not bikes like in mostly flat Florence.  But the invention of e-bikes is about to change this. The city of Siena has installed an  electric bike sharing program which is functioning well. However, it's mostly aimed at locals and residents, as its set-up is a little complicated for visitors who only stay a couple of days in town. Hence, for tourists, the best bike rental options in Siena are with the privately owned shops which supply bycicles of every size and type for a day or two or an entire week.  Giulia from Julskitchen.com cycling through the hills of Siena Siena Bike Shop rents out racing bycicles, hybrid and e-bikes and is a great optio...

Ambrogio Lorenzetti's frescoes and paintings

From toddlers to octogenarians, when in Siena I schlepp everybody to see Ambrogio Lorenzetti's 'Buon Governo'. The long title of the painting is 'The Allegory of Good and Bad Government in the City and the Countryside' and it is exactly that - namely an accurate depiction of daily life in medieval Siena. The detailed and elegant fresco cycle is a rarity not just in regard to Lorenzetti's style and technique, but mainly due to its subject matter. In the 14th century, paintings and frescoes focus on stories and characters from the old and new testament and  not on the day-to-day tasks of builders and farmers.  Medieval Siena depicted on one of the walls of Ambrogio Lorenzetti's fresco cycle in the Palazzo Pubblico (©Wikipedia) And this is exactly why it's so much fun to spend some time in front of the fresco cycle in the  civic museum in Siena's Palazzo Pubblico. Whether its kids  - or meat lovers - looking for the famous Cinta Senese pig  ...

NINA ZILLI CONCERT IN PIAZZA DEL CAMPO

Whatever the exact financial situation of the city of Siena and its famous nearly broke bank - the fact that free concerts are back on Piazza del Campo is a promising sign! In the summer of 2012 ,   Patti Smith  sang 'People have the Power' on Piazza del Campo. The song and her fabulous concert in Siena feature in the book soundtrack - and hopefully also in the future film adaptation - of my memoir  Across the Big Blue Sea .  But while a spectacular full moon rose behind Torre del Mangia the night of Patti's concert, the city itself had just started its descent into a longlasting financial nightmare. The Monte dei Paschi bank -  founded in  1472 it is the world's oldest continually operating bank -  turned from  prodigy into Italy's problem child (more about this here ), and with the bank's debacle, the free concerts on Piazza del Campo had lost their main sponsor.  Nina may not be a world-star, but she's definitely one of th...