Thursday 7 July
Salso Arena (Parco Mazzini-Salsomaggiore Terme)
-MFC CHICKEN(UK)-
They had opened the 2016 edition of the Festival and will open the 2022 edition. 28-carat frat rock between Fleshtones and Headcoats, or pure fun. Directly from North London and the Dirty Water stable (a guarantee of quality) the perfect party band: ladies & gentlemen, MFC Chicken. Fasten your seatbelts.
-RADIO DAYS(Italy)-
Radio Days has been working on the (re)construction of the “perfect power pop” with excellent results. Before the genre came back into vogue, they were already immersed up to their necks in choruses and killer melodies and today as at the beginning they are in full mission, determined and more than ever masters of the matter. They return to the Festival after 6 years ready to entertain us, as always. Talented, competent and technical, Radio Days will bring home the result. Guaranteed.
Friday 8 July
Salso Arena (Parco Mazzini-Salsomaggiore Terme)
-LEGENDARY SHACK SHAKERS (USA)-
The best-kept secret of American roots punk has a name: Legendary Shack Shakers. Between swamp, country, hillbilly, southern rock and all that is tradition, the Kentucky band reviews 60 years of history with surprising results. If among their fans there are people like Jello Biafra and Stephen King, there must be a reason. Pure dynamite, handle with care.
-BELLRAYS (USA)
One of the most anticipated returns, that of the Bellrays. Lisa Kekaula and her companions had already set fire to the stage of the Beat Festival in 2008 leaving an indelible memory. Who better than them, then, for the edition of the rebirth? Garage and torrid soul/R&B, an explosive mixture of black impulses and white noise: Back From The Grave + Stax = T.N.T. Place any of their records on the plate, turn up the volume, drop the needle: they were hard years, the last two, let’s reset them with the Bellrays from Riverside, California.
-JAMES LEG (USA)-
Voice and keyboard of the Black Diamond Heavies and the great Immortal Lee County Killers, James Leg is a superb performer of country, garage and blues. As a soloist he is ready to pour his basic and visceral rock on the audience of the Beat Festival. Son of a preacher, raised on bread, Rolling Stones and desperate r’n’r, the Texan sinner James Leg lands in Italy to spread the word. Let’s welcome him with the same warmth that he has always infused into his music.
-POSSESSED BY PAUL JAMES (USA)
In the wake of the consolidated tradition of the Salsesi editions, also this year the Festival presents a one man band of absolute value. Let’s talk about Possessed By Paul James, or Konrad Wert, an angry performer who passes with ease from violin to banjo and guitar. Tradition and punk attitude in the heart and arms of a musician as raw as it is disruptive: less is more, more than ever.
Saturday 9 July
Salso Arena (Parco Mazzini-Salsomaggiore Terme)
-GRUESOMES (Canada)-
It’s all true! One of the cult groups of the eighties garage-revival will touch the sacred ground of Salsomaggiore to spread the word of sixties-punk in all its primitive purity. Along with Unclaimed, Fuzztones, Gravedigger V, Morlocks and Chesterfield Kings, in the golden mid-eighties Gruesomes wrote indelible pages in the history of garage with memorable albums such as Tyrants Of Teen Trash, Gruesomania and Hey!, in the name of guttural sounds and sandpaper voices. The quintessence of teen-punk is in those grooves and finding them today in the flesh on the most coveted stage by the sixties-maniacs is an honor, as well as a pleasure. From the chill of Montreal to the hot summer of Salsese, to give the history of the Beat Festival another memorable evening.
-NOT MOVING LTD (Italy)
A legend of the Italian underground, a myth of the eighties (the golden age of neo-garage) resurrected a few years ago to conquer a space in today’s scene in the name of garage, punk, blues and rock’n’roll, with the added value of a maturity that is a medal to be pinned on the chest. Their new album Love Beat tells us that the registry is sometimes a secondary detail: the Beat Festival is ready to celebrate Not Moving LTD with all the honors of the case.
-SHIVAS (USA)
Fresh, simple, direct: Shivas could be the revelation of the 2022 Festival. They come from the north west (Portland, Oregon) but their sound is sunny and vintage at the right point. They plunder tradition but with taste and talent. Byrds fans will like them but even more so Big Star fans: a breath of fresh air. Write down the name of Shivas but, above all, do not miss their show.
-WASTED PIDO (Italy)
Folk, blues, country and punk with low fidelity: the Venetian Wasted Pido does not care about genres and labels. A guitar, a piece of drums, a sandpaper voice and an infinite love for tradition: Wasted Pido has been carrying around the world his obsession with roots for fifteen years. His is a mission and the stage of the Festival a battlefield: expect fire and flames.
Sunday 10 July
Gazebo of Viale Romagnosi-Salsomaggiore Terme
BARRENCE WHITFIELD AND THE SAVAGES (USA)-
A cult musician for a proposition of absolute value. Sunday, to close the festival will be none other than Mister Barrence Whitfield with his Savages, born in 1955, 67 years old and a boundless love for Stax and Motown. Black power in all its firepower in the voice and notes of a name that has spanned 4 decades of history, always in the name of soul and the hottest R&B. If Barrence Whitfield is in the evening there is nothing for anyone: with him at the center of the stage it will be a wonderful closure.
