tue 24/12/2024

Vinicio Capossela, Union Chapel | reviews, news & interviews

Vinicio Capossela, Union Chapel

Vinicio Capossela, Union Chapel

Collapsing stilt men and a carnival atmosphere for the gig of the year so far

Italian troubadour of socks and romance
A man on stilts may look precarious, but after a lifetime of occasionally seeing men on stilts we’ve become used to trusting that they are not, at any moment, going to topple over backwards and break their necks. So it was uniquely disconcerting – even slightly frightening - to see such a man (in the generic man-on stilts apparel of red and white striped trousers, multi-coloured waistcoat and waxed moustache) come crashing to the ground, inches from my feet, pulling a spotlight from the stage as he did so. A spotlight that, moment before, had been trained on the rather wonderful Vinicio Capossela (who has been labelled by some, the Italian Tom Waits) during the carnivalesque, confetti-storm of a final stretch of his two-hour set at the Union Chapel.
A man on stilts may look precarious, but after a lifetime of occasionally seeing men on stilts we’ve become used to trusting that they are not, at any moment, going to topple over backwards and break their necks. So it was uniquely disconcerting – even slightly frightening - to see such a man (in the generic man-on stilts apparel of red and white striped trousers, multi-coloured waistcoat and waxed moustache) come crashing to the ground, inches from my feet, pulling a spotlight from the stage as he did so. A spotlight that, moment before, had been trained on the rather wonderful Vinicio Capossela (who has been labelled by some, the Italian Tom Waits) during the carnivalesque, confetti-storm of a final stretch of his two-hour set at the Union Chapel.

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