If you still hunger for Rage Against the Machine—that lyrical and musical bite where everything happening on stage and on record feels urgent, alive, and capable of shaking both heart and mind—then Italy still has a guru who can fuse music with social politics: Pierpaolo Capovilla, step onto the podium.
As the leader of one of the finest Italian indie rock bands ever to grace a stage, Il Teatro degli Orrori, Capovilla continues to walk the walk and talk the talk with his current project, I Cattivi Maestri—“the bad masters.” At 58, he remains hungry: for life, for change, for people. Above all, it’s still about the music, and the band’s debut album, released in 2022, is nothing short of superb.
With song titles like “La Guerra del Golfo” (“The Gulf War”) and “Morte ai Poveri” (“Death to the Poor”), this isn’t music designed for mass appeal. Fittingly, the band plays ARCI clubs—non-profit social and cultural centres that form a nationwide network of over 4,000 community hubs across Italy. Arci Bellezza, in the heart of Milan, is one such venue: an intimate, effortlessly cool space that holds around a hundred people.
Capovilla is also an actor in his spare time, earning a nomination for Best Actor at this year’s David di Donatello Awards. Still, conventional success has never really been part of the equation—it’s his way or the highway.
The band have recently released two new singles, “Per le Vie della Città” (“In the City Streets”) and “Dimenticare Maria” (“Forget Mary”). Both are excellent, driven by heavy bass lines and Capovilla’s inimitable rap-sung delivery, where every word cuts through with clarity and intent. Like Rage Against the Machine, their sound is stripped back to vocals, bass, drums, and guitar—but each element hits with such force that it’s impossible to tell whether a song began with a bass groove, a drum pattern, or a guitar riff. It’s a template familiar from Il Teatro degli Orrori, and one that still lands with undiminished power.
It’s a warm Sunday night in Milan, and after making the trek from my hometown, about 100 km away, it’s good to be in this social centre’s garden enjoying a pint. As befits these Italian clubs, tickets are cheap (€19/£15), pints are cheaper, though a yearly membership is required (€14/£10). That membership, however, opens the door to any ARCI venue across the country—from Milan to Rome—a genuinely positive thing for youths and free-thinking adults alike.
The band—and Capovilla himself—roam freely among the crowd pre-gig, which is both a welcome surprise and quietly endearing. When it’s time to head downstairs into the concert hall—an ex-boxing gym, the Palestra La Lombarda, which produced champions in the ’50s and ’60s, and served as a location for Rocco and His Brothers by Luchino Visconti, winner of the Special Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival and a BAFTA nominee—everyone is ready to take part.
Over the next 80 minutes, we’re treated to a memorable gig where the passion, dedication, and presence of Capovilla are a thing of beauty. With new songs sprinkled among tracks from the 2022 album, it’s a hard-hitting yet glorious reminder of what rock can do when paired with intellectually sharp, emotionally charged lyrics. Crucially, all the usual modern crutches—backing tracks, clicks, pitch correction, overlong solos—are entirely absent. You feel everything: the shifts in dynamics, the push and pull between instruments and voice, all happening in real time. With a smoke-filled stage and washes of red and blue light, Capovilla and the band move between shadow and glare; it’s a striking look.
Rock has to be a living, breathing body for it to work.
Capovilla and I Cattivi Maestri—along with the largely young crowd—become one as songs like “Morte ai Poveri,” “Sei Una Cosa,” “Follow the Money,” and “Anita” land like punches. The bombastic drumbeats courtesy of Fabrizio Baioni, the rolling bass lines of Federico Aggio, and the melodic yet acidic guitar grooves of Loris Cericola are all a treat. But it’s Capovilla’s voice, high in the mix, that remains the kernel of the project—guiding the band through dramatic starts and stops that inject authenticity and personality into every track.
Closing with the majestic “La Città del Sole,” the room fills with smiles—of love, of appreciation—that the youth of Italy still have an elder spokesman. They return for an encore, “Dieci Anni” (“Ten Years”), and as the final notes fade, goodbyes are said. But the overriding feeling lingers: rock is not dead. It remains a catalyst—capable of guiding us through difficult times, creating unity among the throng in ways few things can.
Rock Against Racism. Rock Against Fascism. Rock ’n’ roll—rock has it all. Let Pierpaolo Capovilla lead the way.
