On Monday evening (October 20th) the lovely Italian city of Florence (Firenze) was host to the opening event of the Festival della Creatività (Creativity Festival) 2008 - Ron Geesin, along with cellist Caroline Dale and Federico Maremmi of tribute band Mun Floyd, reunited to revisit Atom Heart Mother following the London concerts in June.

Held at the legendary Uffizi Gallery in the heart of Florence in front of an invited audience of 350, the event also included some of Ron's own pieces and improvisations, along with the "Story of Atom Heart Mother" slideshow.

Zack Pirani shares his thoughts (and pictures) from the show, and we also have a video link for you, enabling you to see the whole show!

In the run-up to the event, Ron rewrote some of the melody parts of Atom Heart Mother to perform the piece on piano and cello with Caroline, who also took part in the two London performances in June (and worked with David Gilmour previously), and with Federico Maremmi of Mun Floyd on acoustic and lap steel guitar. The AHM slideshow also involved the help of Federico as translator.

Our friend Zack Pirani from the Italian Floyd Channel website was there, and it is thanks to him that we bring you his pictures [click the thumbnails] and comments from the evening.

The evening was billed as "Pink Floyd meet Bach at the Uffizi", as you can see from the cover of the programme. Some of the show was like the ones in London; at the start Ron - with his banjo - walked through the audience, shouting Gaelic. This was followed with a solo piano improvisation, the AHM story, and the short version of the AHM suite for piano, cello and guitars (including a steel guitar), that sounded very nice.

Caroline played some pieces of Bach, then joined with Ron on his banjo to play the same music as in London. Ron then performed a solo with another banjo, before moving to the final solo improvisation, this time at the piano.

Ron kept the audience laughing, and even had a conversation with the two statues near the stage! A memorable evening, it was a very nice concert, in a very beautiful place!

UPDATE: There's some excellent video footage that can be viewed at www.intoscana.it which includes a three-minute piece with Ron being interviewed about the upcoming event, and a seventy minute video of the whole show!

Official setlist:

There was a slight variation to this: Fanfara and Conversation were swapped over, Caroline add another short piece of Bach, and Ron didn't play "Ka-Donk-A-Bong".

Ron Geesin
Fanfara
per Banjo e Voce

Ron Geesin
Not as old as I used to be
per pianoforte

Ron Geesin
Envi - Ron - Mental ( = Invidia - Ron - Pazzo)
per pianoforte

Ron Geesin
The Making of Atom Heart Mother
Presentazione della nascita di Atom Heart Mother

Ron Geesin/Pink Floyd
Atom Art Flutter
per violoncello, pianoforte e chitarre

J.S. Bach
Suite n.° 1 BWV 1007 per violoncello solo
Preludio
Allemanda
Corrente
Sarabanda
Minuetto I e II
Giga

Caroline & Ron
Fight or flight
per violoncello e banjo

Ron Geesin
Conversation with Banjo

Ron Geesin
Ka-Donk-A-Bong
per marimba

Ron Geesin
Close the piano