Alessandro Ciminata is a London-based Italian singer, who moved to London 7 years ago, following his passion for music and relocating to the capital for his studies. Over these past few years, Alessandro has worked on a large number of projects and released several singles, which have caught our attention for their original Indie pop style.
On Tuesday night, with expressing excitement for having reached such a fantastic achievement, Alessandro played his debut headline show at The Waiting Room in Northern London.
Finding The Waiting Room was actually quite hard, with no evident signs indicating its underground location in the quiet residential borough of Stoke Newington. However, as soon I entered the venue, I was welcomed by a cosy atmosphere, as if that place, like any other London concert halls, was part of the skeleton of the city, with music representing its very soul.
This feeling of cosiness was increased by decorations like candles and private photos, glued to the walls, depicting the artist and his closest friends. It was almost as if I entered the artist’s flat, as if I had to ask permission before getting closer to the stage, possibly on tiptoes.
As soon as the venue got crowded (the show was sold out online a few hours before the start), singer Matilda Eyre started her performance as opening act. The artist is a real multi-instrumentalist. She started the concert with a piano/voice performance, and then, for the following song, she switched to her guitar, accompanying her singing with some delicate arpeggios.
Electronic launch-pad sounds, pre-registered choruses, and powerful drums enriched the instrumentals. Matilda’s delicate and sweet voice was strongly echoed by a microphone effect, which created a dreamy and timeless atmosphere. The audience’s attention was completely taken by the shape of the singer, sketched by the blue lights of the stage. “You got me feeling all these feelings” sang the artist, and she must be sure she got us feeling good vibes as well.
Finally, the main act of the night began in earnest, with Alessandro Ciminata approaching the stage under a wave of cheers from the audience, which was fairly varied, with people of different nationalities and ages. Some of them were Alessandro’s friends and collaborators, others just people looking for good music.
Alessandro took over the scene with another artist, who would then play the piano, guitar and launch pad. The Italian singer wore a black and white outfit, which matched with his white guitar, and which was vitalized by the changing lights of the stage.
Alessandro immediately warmed up the room with his baritone voice, performing an introduction plus his 2018 single “Love Locked Out”. The song invites the listeners to leave their soul open up, to let someone see inside them and to be themselves. Alessandro’s performance was accompanied by deep piano chords.
The singer then started performing “Flashing Lights” under the green and blue moving lights of the stage. The song, produced by Jack Gourlay, is about growing old and finding the real you. The song features a catchy chorus and a short guitar solo.
At this point of the live show, a change of mood took place, as the singer introduced his latest song “Signs”. The track is about the pain caused by loved ones loss: “Last year I lost my granddad” he said, “He had been married with my grandmother for 59 years. I’ve always wondered what she felt, after sharing the same bed for all this time”.
Lights of the stage turned red as the singer uttered “Give me a sign!”. The audience sang along through the throbbing and quivering instrumental of the track.
After making the audience dance with “Ain’t Nothing But Rain”, which lightly recalls The Chainsmokers’ style, Alessandro switched to the love-themed song “Heal Your Heart”. “The song is about heart-breaks” the artist confessed and then invited the audience to think about how to improve their relationship, to think about past mistakes and how to fix them.
Following the emotionally-laden ballad “It’s You Or It’s Nothing”, which was characterized by rapid and powerful drums, the concert mood changed again with “Kings”. As the singer confessed, this song was written one year ago, during winter, in a flat in North London and with authors he admires.
The track is about acceptance and finding happiness. It invites the listener to live for today, without expectations for what your life should be. The singer crooned: “We don’t need to be kings / We could be anything we want / We could be free now / We could go anywhere we want now”.
This song preceded the most curious track of the night, the old-style “Lost In Your Arms”, with 80’s sounds, drums and claps, which made the audience dance and go back in time. After thanking his collaborators, friends and girlfriend (who looked deeply moved by his words) for their support throughout the years, Alessandro closed the concert with a surprise.
Indeed, he revealed and performed a new track titled “Wasted On Each Other”, which he had never played before and which will be released on November 15. The audience was completely captured by the performance, before gathering around the singer, celebrating him for the amazing concert, as Alessandro stepped down from the stage.
To sum up, the live performance was, overall, really interesting. The singer managed to maintain the audience attention from the beginning to the end, also thanks to a well-constructed concert playlist. Despite being fairly moved and excited (one could notice his eyes shining, when he would look at the large number of people in the room), Alessandro managed to lead the concert perfectly, as if it wasn’t his first headline show ever.
He’s also been good at entertaining the audience, making jokes about Netflix series. The sound quality was great, the artist managed to convey the songs’ messages and one could feel his tracks were strictly linked to his personal experiences.
I have personally been struck by the quality of his deep baritone vocals: I was afraid his live vocals would suffer from the strong instrumentals of his songs, sounding, therefore, weaker; but actually it didn’t happen. While waiting for “Wasted On Each Other” to be released, I really look forward to listening to him again!
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Words by Federico Fancelli
