BEAT in concert at the Arena Santa Giuliana in Perugia for Umbria Jazz 2026

A crazy concert that showcased the extraordinary skills of a stellar band that, in about 90 minutes, managed to play a wide repertoire of songs from the ’80s trilogy.

Adrian Belew, vocals and guitar, still has an incredibly powerful voice; Steve Vai, with his mathematical, theatrical and complex style, is simply spectacular; Tony Levin is monumental both on 5‑string bass and on the Chapman Stick in an outstanding performance; and Danny Carey has incredible power, respecting and enriching the original odd and polyrhythmic meters, while adding his heaviness and geometric precision—devastating.

A concentration of technique that’s unique nowadays, which gave the feeling of attending a lesson in music, technique and taste, and in the great ability to command the stage.

If on one side there was all this, which makes the concert memorable, on the other some negative notes.

Obviously the concert started late, after the Perigeo one and a necessary break to dismantle and reassemble the stage—certainly not simple considering the number of Perigeo members and the precision with which the set must be prepared for world‑class musicians like the Beat.

Because of this, some negative consequences:

The trimmed setlist: I remember a higher number of songs at other concerts I had read up on. 

The lack of “heart”: the dialogue and interactions with the audience were kept to the bare minimum, and one of them highlighted Italian food—nothing more banal in the country that holds the greatest number of works of art in the world. The flow of the songs was continuous—fantastic flow, mind you—but you could tell the goal was to stay on time.

The lack of an encore, which I at least was really expecting and which should have been top level.

I’ll add one myself, even if it was probably my mistake to expect it: not a word for Perigeo, who had preceded them on stage with their last official concert after fifty years of career. Maybe from the big stars of world prog a word for a glorious Italian band could have been spared, but I’m a romantic—don’t mind it, my fault.

All in all, a memorable concert, stellar performances. Little heart, which in any case doesn’t suit polyrhythms much, mathematical precision and the sometimes brash style of a Steve Vai as great as he is narcissistic. Again, my fault. I apologize to the purists.