Hotelrome.net Blog : A guide to news and events in Rome

Our Blogger: Rhodora

The origins of Michael Bublè are Italian: his Grandmother Yolanda is from Carrubo, a small town in Abruzzi, and his  Grandfather is from Teviso in Veneto region. It’s his Grandfather that make Michael closer to classic jazz and swing music of the 40s and 50s, the Mills Brothers, Frank Sinatra and Bobby Darin Ella Fitzgerald. Encouraged, Michael learns the ‘’sacred texts’’ of swing and participates in several youth competitions. To open him a way to a major label, however, is the former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, who has always been fan of pop music, to introduced him to the producer David Foster, winner of numerous Grammy and Executive Director of the labels that are managed by Warner. Bublé amazed him singing Mack the knife to the wedding of Mulroney’s daughter, after that he finally obtained a contract and in 2003, he published his first album under his name, first in America and then in Europe, he became one of the most singers all over the world. After the big success, in  2005 he appeared with another successful album called it’s time followed two years later by Call me Irresponsible.

In 2009 the new album Crazy Love Michael opens the door of his private emotions to the world. You can see may facets of a man: the boy always happy and optimistic, the angry lover refused, the perfect boyfriend, the not-so-perfect pretender or the only man in a crowded room. In this album you can also hear him singing the eternal friendship that give consolation after a sentimental break in the song written by himself called “hold on” or a story of a couple born under an unlucky star on At this moment.

After almost two and a half years since the last tour in Italy, the great Canadian singer returns to Rome on October 23^rd 2010 for a great concert, to sing for all his fans songs of his new album and some of his greatest hits.

Our Blogger: Raul

-Next July pianist Keith Jarrett and his legendary trio (Jarrett, plus Gary Peacock and Jack DeJohnette) will visit the Eternal City: an occassion not to be missed for those who love great music.

When you think of the European jazz capitals of the world, Paris and Amsterdam come immmediatly to mind. But every summer Rome hosts a number of increasingly important jazz events that reveal the growing interest of Italian audiences in improvised music.

Slowly the Eternal City is gaining cachet as a jazz city and this status will be crowned next July with the visit of Keith Jarrett, probably the most talented and well-known jazz musician alive.

Jarrett started his career with the George Lloyd quartet and then jumped to public notoriety through his performances with Miles Davis. Jarrett can be seen as the substitute leading figure in the jazz world after Davis’ dismissal. Jarrett brought jazz back to its acoustic roots after a period of electric experimentation renewing in the process the American songbook with new renditions of jazz standards. Besides his song performances, Jarret is also widely acclaimed for his ability to create long improvisations on which jazz, classical musical and even folk and gospel music blend in an omogeneous and usually astonishingly beautiful result.

But not everything is milk and honey with Jarret, as Italian audiences attending the Perugia Jazz Festival a few years ago can confirm. On that occasion Jarrett snipped at the public after what he thought was a misrespect on their side: in fact, the musician finds the slightest sounds from the audience, as coughs or whispers to be highly distracting and has no qualms about letting the audience know how he feels. In fact the organizers of his concert hand cough drops to the public before every performance.

If you will find yourself in Rome during July this is a great opportunity to attend a concert of magnificent music. At Yes Hotel and Hotel Des Artistes we are at your disposition for all your accomodation needs in Rome.

Our Blogger: Angelo

A critic once wrote, “Thaks god there’s Gianna Nannini. Without her there would be in Italy a void as big as the genre ‘female rock’”. This seasoned singer, the female counterpart of Italian rockstar Vasco Rossi, manages to surprise Italians every year with songs about passion, lost love and feminine strenght.

For those who love Gianna or are only curious to meet her, the date to remember is  October the 30^th 2009, when the singer will offer a concert in the Palalottomatica arena in Rome.

It will be all about great Italian music and an excuse to showcase some of the songs of Gianna’s new album, called “Gianna Dream”.

This concert will make go out of your mind, you’ll find a lot of great people and with Gianna’s songs you will find someone who can make you feel really important.

The concert start at 20:30pm. The tickets you may acquire them at the Palalottomatica Roma before getting in or either online www.thicketone.it .

We are sure you don’t want to miss this great concert.To enjoy the best of Rome there’s nothing like Yes Hotel and Hotel Des Artistes, its great location and helpful staff are what you need to have a fantastic holiday!

For more info please call

infoline: 06/45496305

Our Blogger: Joseph

Singer, song-writer and pianist Tori Amos returns to Rome for the first Italian date of her Sinful Attraction Tour in which she will introduce new tracks off from her new released album entitled Abnormally Attracted To Sin. Amos, also known as the “the goddess of rock” for the die hard fans, is one of the most important figures in contemporary music scene; anyone who has followed her music career, will be able to recognize the overturns from her music in the 90’s thanks to intense activities like Little Earthquakes (1992), Under the Pink (1994) and From the Choirgirl Hotel (1998).

Known for her emotional concerts, Amos will be doing some new covers from her previous albums.. Amos have performed in beyond 1,000 dates in the theatres and prestigious well-know concert venues all over the world. Her last world tour in 2007, has been defined by BBC as "The return of Tori Amos as she had defined herself as well… beyond its end". In the peak of her career Amos has done covers of classic rock tracks such as Angie by the Rolling Stones, Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana, Thank You by Led Zeppelin, I am on fire by Bruce Springsteen and New Age by Lou Reed.

Here at Yes Hotel and Hotel Des Artistes we’ll be glad to help you in every way we can to enjoy this and many other great events in the city.

30 September 2009 – Auditorium Parco della Musica                                                  

Tickets:

Plateau 45 euros;                                                                             First Gallery 35 euros;                                                                     Second Gallery 25 euros.

Our Blogger: Jona

U2 is an Irish rock band formed in 1976. They have sold approximately 140 million  records worldwide, and the group has beenn awarded a high number of Grammy Awards. With over 30 year career behind, U2 are among the most important bands on the international stage.

From the beginning of their career, an important part of the band’s identity has been the interest in psychological and social themes. Also in these early albums is present the theme of the death of Bono’s mother, deceased when the singer was only 13 years old. The Irish question was first mentioned on the song Sunday Bloody Sunday. While with the song Silver and Gold the group tackles international problems with a song expressing their position against the policy of apartheid in South Africa. With Walk on instead supported Aung San Suu Kyi in her struggle for free elections in Burma.

As for the tour this year,  U2 has two dates booked in Italy at the San Siro stadium in Milan on the  7th and 8th of July. In their concert will present the songs of their latest album titled No Line on the Horizon which is ranked first in the  British, Irish, French, German, Finnish, and even Japanese charts. The tour was titled "360 Tour" due to the 360 degrees design of the scenery that offers the public a perfect vision of the band. The 2009 tour of U2 will begin in Barcelona on 30 June 2009 with stops in 14 European cities

And if you are planning to go to Milan, why not come to Rome, to enjoy a spectacular display of history and culture after seeing a spectacular band? In the Eternal City you won’t find a better place to stay than Yes Hotel and Hotel Des Artistes!

Our Blogger: Diana

Formed in 1980, Depeche Mode is now one of the most influential and long lasting electronic music bands, with forty-five songs in the UK Singles Chart and with 75 million albums sold worldwide according to EMI.

The historic members of the band are:Dave Gahan (lead vocals), Martin Gore (keyboards, guitar, vocals), Andrew Fletcher (keyboards).

The band will visit 28 cities in 21 countries with their new Tour of the Universe kicking off on May 06th at the Rockhal in Luxembourg and landing then on May 10th at Tel Aviv, as announced by the band at the Olympiastadion of Berlin during a press conference held last October. During their last tour in 2006 the exhibition at the Israeli city was cancelled due to the war. Tour dates are planned throughout Europe: Greece, Bulgary, Hungary, France, Germany, Czech Republic, Italy and others more.

Italian fans can’t wait for these two dates of the tour: the first one on June 16th 2009 in the Stadio Olimpico of Rome and the second one on June 18th 2009 in Milan, in the San Siro Stadium. Tickets have been sold since October!

Sounds of the Universe (2009), twelfth album of the band, is the result of a creative

process,  started in early 2008 with some songs Martin Gore had been working on at his home studio in Santa Barbara. The first single released from the album  is Wrong, available on the band’s official website.

Hotel des Artistes and Yes Hotel are two excelent options to consider as a base in Rome. Staying there you will be able to reach easily both the venue of this concert and the most interesting areas of the eternal city.

WHEN

June 16th, 2009

WHERE

Olimpic Stadium

Foro Italico, 00194 Roma

HOW TO GET THERE

From Termini take the red subway line, get off at Lepanto station, and then take the bus 280

Our Blogger: Jona

Lenny Kravitz is one of the most popular American singers among young audiences. He plays a savvy mix of rock and pop. He’s a multi-talented star: besides singing, He plays the guitar, bass, the drums, piano, harmonica, and the sitar. Lenny was born and raised in New York. His father was of jewish descent and his mother came from the Bahamas.

  In 1989, Lenny Kravitz recorded his first album, Let Love Rule, which had some success. 1990, Madonna, the undisputed queen of pop, made a cover of one of his songs, Justify my love and brought him to the spotlight. It was through this implicit acknowledgement of his talent that Kravitz obtained his first real success. Another very important year for the singer was in 1999, when 5 was released, an album that took him to the highest positions in the hit parades of all the world. With this album, Kravitz experienced for the first time with electronic sounds. 5 was very successful in Europe, mainly due to its single entitled Fly Away and other hits like I belong To You, If you Can ‘ t Say No, and the cover American Woman.

The following year his first collection of greatest hits came out. The record included all the hits mentioned before, plus a new track called Again.During his career Lenny has established many fruitful collaborations with other pop artists like Michael Jackson, P. Diddy and Aerosmith.

It’s time for a love revolution is the title of the 2008 rock album with which the singer  reached the 4th position in the Billboard in America, and a 3rd place in Italy earning a golden record. Last year, however, Kravitz was hospitalized due to a bad flu, complicated by bronchitis  and severe dehydration, and the tour planned for this year to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of his career was postponed. Anyway, to the delight of his fans everywhere, Lenny has a concert scheduled in Rome for June 05, 2009. All the tickets in the Palalottomatica Arena, in the EUR district, are expected to sold out, so hurry to get yours and to make a reservation at Hotel Des Artistes or Yes Hotel!

PALALOTTOMATICA ARENA

Piazzale dello Sport, Roma (near subway stations EUR Fermi/ Eur Palasport- map)

Tickets:

3rd Ring:59

2nd Ring:69

1stRing:78

Gallery:130

Our Blogger: Rhodora

Irene grandi, is one of the most talented Italian singers. She was born in Florence on December 6^th 1969. Her debut took place at the Sanremo Giovani Festival, where she won with the song “Fuori” (Outside). After her debut at Sanremo, everyone considered her as “The next big thing” on the Italian music stage. 

The second album “In vacanza da una vita” (On holiday from life) published in 1995, confirmed the talent of the singer, who sings a range of genres from sophisticated pop of ” Dolcissimo amore” (Sweet Love) to the energetic rock of “Bum Bum”. In the same period, Irene worked with another famous Italian Artist: Pino Daniele in a duet “Se mi vuoi” (If you want me). Irene and Pino also did a concert tour together the same year.

The single “Che vita è” (what a life), was on the top of the charts for more than a month. In 2000 the singer participated again at the Sanremo festival, but this time between against the big stars. She came second place with a song written for her by Vasco Rossi – “La tua ragazza sempre”. This artistic collaboration with Vasco Rossi continued in 2003 with the album “Prima di partire per un lungo viaggio”. Irene also had the possibility to lead the concert of Vasco Rossi at the San Siro stadium.

2006 was a sabbatical year for the Florentine artist, but she participated in the compilation “Innocenti invasioni” (innocent evasion), dedicated to Lucio Battisti. Subsequently, a concert for the deceased artist was also held in Rome.

This Year, for Christmas, Irene grandi had a big gift for all her fans. In fact on November 28^th she published her new album where she sings all Christmas songs , from “Bianco Natale” (White Christmas), to Silent Night. Among the guests on the disc, in addition to the pianist Stefano Bollani, is actor Alessandro Gasman, who performs a duet in “Something stupid”, and also Jovanotti and Luca Carboni, who wrote two beautiful Christmas songs for her.

Here’s the track list of her new album:

1. Bianco Natale

2. O è Natale tutti i giorni

3. Qualche piccolo ti Amo (Somethin’ Stupid) feat. Alessandro Gassman

4. Canzone per Natale
5. Buon Natale a tutto il mondo
6. È Natale
7. Silent Night
8. Christmastime
9. Wonderful Christmas
10. Happy Christmas
11. Oh Happy Days
12. Wishing on a star