My salad days with Stick Men

I had the pleasure of spending a few days with my friends in Stick Men: Tony Levin, Markus Reuter and Pat Mastelotto. They were in Italy for a short tour, and I was invited to open their show in Carrara, north of Tuscany. I had never been there before. Luckily, I had some time off to wander around, before the concert and on the day after.

The show was put together by Paolo Bedini, in support of the Parole Liberate project. I got to play a half-an-hour set with my good friend EUGENE, with some help from guests Lorenzo Eva (on trumpet) and Pat Mastelotto, who agreed to perform with us. Unfortunately, Alessandro Inolti wasn’t available for this gig — we missed him, although we had a pretty decent backup plan! The show was recorded. I plan to release the soundboard recording on Bandcamp at some point. Also, there’s some high quality footage of our set. I have uploaded a couple of videos on YouTube: Building Homes and Frantic.

Also, Stick Men rehearsed in my hometown for a couple of days prior to the tour. A very good time was had, and for me it was — once again — a reminder of how special these people are. I’m so grateful for their friendship and the musical moments that we share. Here are some more snapshots from our time together (click on the pictures to enlarge).