Right at the heart of music: Ron at the Astoria Theater in Fiorano Modenese

The tour’s title is not only a tribute to the famous 1981 song, co-written with Lucio Dalla, but a true statement of intent. For Ron, being “at the very center of music” means inhabiting a physical and spiritual place where one can take refuge from the chaos outside. It is an invitation to rediscover balance: as long as there is a melody, the artist and his audience are never truly alone, but rather guardians of a space where time seems to stand still.

The setlist drew from the extensive shared repertoire of Ron and his longtime friend Lucio Dalla, offering the audience a journey through the heritage of Italian singer-songwriter music. The concert opened with Una città per cantare, followed by Almeno pensami, a song written by Dalla and rediscovered as an unreleased track years after his passing in 2012, which Ron then performed at the 2018 Sanremo Festival.

Many of the most beautiful stories emerged precisely through those opening lines. Ron recalled how Piazza Grande came about almost by chance: when he was very young, on the deck of a ferry taking Dalla’s team from Naples to Sicily, he picked up his guitar and, playing around with the chords, composed the melody in about twenty minutes, which he would later complete with Lucio. He recounted the genesis of Il gigante e la bambina, inspired by a tragic news story, initially censored by RAI and later revised in the lyrics. And then there was the unexpected birth of Non abbiamo bisogno di parole, sparked by a professional disappointment.

The audience was also able to rediscover the energy of Joe Temerario, the poetry of Chissà se lo sai (lyrics by Dalla), and the ever-present Vorrei incontrarti tra cent’anni, performed as a duet with Stefania Tasca.

A setlist studded with major hits, interwoven with vivid and constant references to his friendship and collaboration with the unforgettable Lucio Dalla.

Contributing to the evening’s success was a group of outstanding young musicians, bound by true friendship and capable of creating elegant, never intrusive soundscapes: Stefania Tasca on vocals and percussion, Giuseppe Tassoni on piano and keyboards, Roberto Di Virgilio on guitars, and Pierpaolo Giandomenico on bass and double bass.

“There are songs that…” stay with each of us forever: this was an opportunity to rediscover them and hear them performed live.

The concert ended with a long round of applause from a packed house, as the band bid farewell to the audience to the strains of the song that gives the tour its name, leaving the feeling that, for one evening, that “center” had truly been found.