After years of wandering, the historic venue reopens: new headquarters, old waysWritten by Giulio Pecci on 10 May 2022The first thing to hit is the scent.As soon as you open the door and go down the stairs of the new RCCB Init you are struck by that essence that music lovers and club and rehearsal halls know well.An indefinable mix of wood, metal, the smells of the bar, that of the electricity at rest of the plant.It's afternoon, it's sunny outside and the service lights are on inside, but the room seems to be waiting for nothing more than to explode with a guitar chord, a hit on the snare drum, a vibrating bass, whatever.A sleeping giant, that's what it looks like.The old Init had been hit by that wave of Capitoline closures that about five / six years ago deprived Rome of a series of fundamental places for its musical and cultural fabric.Giampaolo Felici was there then and is still there today.Closures "for their problems" defines them, with reference to the municipality of Rome clearly: "In recent years the INIT has survived in spirit by relying on other places, but arriving from outside is not the same thing.We need a physical place to cultivate something, especially in terms of programming ».So here we are in the Portonaccio area, halfway between Largo Preneste and the start of the preferential for buses that claimed so many victims a couple of summers ago.We are in Via Domenico Cucchiari, in what was previously a billiard room, perhaps a gambling den, then closed and left to rot for at least a decade.“When we entered it was a nightmare.We have been working for over a year to restore everything.But we kept one thing: this original seventies billiards ».Which actually makes a good impression in the middle of the club and divides its two souls: the stage on one side (complete with the old Init system, one of the best sounds ever among Roman clubs) and the bar on the other;it would make a perfect backdrop for the Blues Brothers as it seems to have come out of the United States in the seventies / eighties."For now we are doing only one-shot events, it made no sense to imagine an extended schedule at the end of April when we actually opened our doors".Events that, however, are giving the dimension of what can and cannot be done - the club is nestled between high rises and commercial activities - and which, above all, certify intact what was one of the main qualities of the INIT.“The sound is great.We tried it with both DJ sets and bands and it's actually crazy.All this wood and the way the room is made certainly help ».One last lap to better absorb the place and back to the surface.Giampaolo has to go and print some of the posters that stood out at the old Init and, in particular, covered almost all of the dressing rooms.They told a story of powerful, independent, creative music that began in the very early 2000s and continued until its abrupt end.The RCCB Init has that story in its DNA there and it will be great to see how it slips back into the tight Roman mesh.The Californian label and radio Lips & Rhythm lands in Rome for a twelve-hour party in a secret villa with a mystical line up.ZERO recommends ten June festivals where you can stop around the peninsula.A collection of new records made in Rome, selected by the editorial staff of ZERO.Since 1996 it has been the city's BibleEdizioni Zero srl Via Bergognone, 34 - c / o BASE Milano 20144 Milano Italy, EUCity - choose city - Milan Rome Bologna Turin Florence Naples ZurichBy submitting this form, you agree to accept our Privacy Policy.