Madison Square Garden. An Unforgettable Evening with Zucchero and Friends

Zucchero, Sugar Fornaciari set Madison Square Garden on fire Wednesday night. The Italian singer and songwriter won over the love of the entire audience with a 3 hour concert he performed without a single interruption.
 

It was an unforgettable evening which brought together all his fans and especially the Italian and Italian Americans residing or visiting the Big Apple. At the beginning of the show Zucchero asked the audience: “Should I speak English or Italian?” and got a pound response from them: “Italiano!,” confirming the majority of those present inside the theater.
 
The concert at the Madison Square Garden is one of the major stops on Zucchero’s Americana tour, which is to deliver forty concerts all over the United States and Canada. Yet the concert in New York was certainly the highlight of the tour and definitely a day that even the artist, as he stated, will never forget.
 
Zucchero has filled to the brim a venue which has hosted some the greatest New York events, Madison Square Garden, where he performed together with other famous Italian and international performing artists. The show opened with tree of Zucchero's songs, but he was soon joined on stage by none other than his daughter, Irene Fornaciari.
The second duet of  the evening was a grand performance with Elisa Toffoli of “Blu” and “Luce.” The artist than shared the stage with one of Italy's beloved female performers, Fiorella Mannoia singing Zucchero's latest hit “Guantanamera.” Zucchero conned to surprise his fans with a performance with the trumpeter and composer Chris Botti and another duet singing “Baila Morena” with Fernando Fher Olvera from the Mexican band Mana’.

Soon after, an explosive entrance by Jovanotti took place with an original interpretation of the song “Il Mare” and again toward the end of the show, Jovanotti came back performing “Good Times.”

“New York, I want to see you dancing,” shouted the Italian rapper, getting everyone on their feet and dancing to the beat. 

 
Some of the most memorable performances of the night were certainly “Soul Man” and “You Are so Beautiful” sung with the 80 year old Sam Moore who appeared on stage dressed in a flaming red suit. Zucchero also paid  homage to the late Luciano Pavarotti performing via a previously recorded music video featuring Zucchero and the Italian tenor in the duet of “Miserere.”  
 
However the most awaited guest of the evening was saved for last. Zucchero joked saying that one of his friends couldn’t make it to the show, but a few seconds later Sting made his triumphant entrance and the duo sang  “Muoio per Te” and “Every Breath You Take,” leaving the audience in pure ecstasy. 
 
Certain songs from the repertoire of the Italian “king of blues” could not be missed, as many of them marked important steps in the career of the artist starting back in the 1970s: “Con le Mani,” “Diamante,” “Cosi’ Celeste,” “Diavolo in Me” closing the concert with the energetic and funky rythm of “Per Colpa Di Chi.”
 
Although Madison Square Garden is slowly cooling down after Zucchero's Wednesday night's fantastic performance, the Americana tour is far from over as the singer goes on to perform in Atlanta, Miami and Clearwater Beach. Then, maybe, Zucchero Sugar Fornaciari will finally be able to take a vacation…after all performing for three hours non-stop must be quite a workout…

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