There I was…
Last Sunday evening in the medieval town of Bergamo, Italy, fifteen finalists reported for competition on a single stage before an audience of avid Italian Springsteen fans, critics, fellow musicians. industry notables, and one American blogger.
Each of the Cover Me finalists had already survived a qualifying rounding of judging based on a video submission, and for every artist who made the cut, three more didn’t.
I was genuinely excited for the event, and not just because of the exotic travel, community connection, and live music. As I’m sure you know by now, dear reader, I am a sucker for a good cover. And by good, I mean fresh and inventive. My favorite covers (many of which I’ve featured here on the Shuffle) are the ones that completely reinvent the original song and make me appreciate it in ways I’d never considered.
Almost all of the fifteen finalists checked that box with their video submissions, and I was eager to see how their arrangements would translate to the stage. I had a short selection of a few personal favorites that I was particularly looking forward to see performed live.
But Iacopo Fedi’s cover of “Man’s Job” wasn’t one of them.
Iacopo’s video certainly wasn’t bad, and it definitely was a different take on the song. But it featured a slick, synthy production that reminded me of what I didn’t like about the Human Touch album in general (even though “Man’s Job” is one of its lesser offenders).
So Fedi’s creative entry didn’t particularly impress me or move me when I first reviewed it, and I was a bit surprised to see it in the final.
But when Iacopo took the stage in Bergamo, I knew something unexpected was about to happen. He was alone, with only his acoustic guitar for accompaniment. How would he recreate his layered arrangement?
As it turned out, he didn’t. He went a different way instead, and boy was I glad I’d decided to record the surprise I’d sensed was coming. For a moment, I actually thought he’d switched songs, (you’ll understand why during the introduction), but that was just a fake-out, a set-up, and a hat-tip to another Human Touch song that seems to have inspired Fedi’s new arrangement.
Trust me and watch this straight through–and prepare to be as blown away as I was.
Slowed down and stripped down to its bare essentials, Iacopo’s arrangement gave him plenty of room to showcase his impressively powerful vocals. All the elements clicked, and his performance of “Man’s Job” ended up being one of my top three favorites of the night.
Fedi’s astounding performance landed him in eleventh place for the evening, which should give you a sense of just how strong the other contenders were that night.
I’ll be featuring several more of my favorite performances over the coming weeks, along with my overall impressions of the event. But for now, my thanks and admiration to creator/organizer Alberto Lanfranchi and his wonderful, warm team for putting on an amazing event during a challenging time, and for allowing me to be a part of it.
And thank you, Iacopo, for re-inventing Bruce’s song and deepening my appreciation of it. Your live performance that night will likely remain my single favorite performance of “Man’s Job” by anyone, Bruce included.
