Mi Ami, the economics of the Festival explained by the organisers

Even music festivals come of age. It also happens at the Mi Ami Festival, whose 18th edition is being celebrated from 23 to 26 May at Milan's Circolo Magnolia, Idroscalo area. And it is a marvellous short-circuit because Of coming of age was the subtitle of the first legendary album by CCCP - Fedeli alla Linea, released in 1986. And what was the title of the most famous track on that record? Mi ami? And to whom is the opening concert of the 18th Mi Ami, at Carroponte, entrusted? Precisely the CCCP.

'Having CCCP,' say Carlo Pastore and Stefano Bottura, the festival organisers, 'was a forbidden dream, ever since the first edition. At the time, the band had long since disbanded, there was no rational possibility that this dream would come true, that the concert would take place. And, instead, 18 years later it does. And we are doing it in Sesto San Giovanni, the Stalingrad of Italy, a non-trivial place, considering the imaginary reference point of Giovanni Lindo Ferretti's band'.

Pastore and Bottura, however, shy away from any reconstruction of a cause-and-effect relationship between the CCCP song and the name of the Festival: 'We chose Mi Ami,' they explain, 'because it stood for Independent Music in Milan. In 2005, the idea of the Festival matured around the editorial staff of Rockit, there was a desire to put together a scene. In 2005, independent music was something few listened to, a spark. Then it happened that, for countless reasons, that spark became a beautiful fire. So we decided to change the acronym to Musica Importante in Milan, in the knowledge that shrinking into a ghetto leads to little. The challenge became to get as many people as possible to listen to Italian music. And, even then, mission accomplished. Now that the streaming charts are practically monopolised by Italian music, we liked the idea of giving the event an international flavour'.

Carlo Pastore e Stefano Bottura

This year's bill speaks for itself: there is the eagerly awaited concert by the French Phoenix, the live performance of Cumgirl8, a cult female group from the New York post-punk scene, the Mediterranean sound of Erlend Øye and the Comitiva and the more experimental sound of the English trio - with a hint of Rome in it - Bar Italia . But there is also plenty of quality music from home, as in the first date of Colapesce Dimartino's tour. There are Tropico, Venerus, Marco Castello, the Ministri, Willie Peyote and above all the Tre Allegri Ragazzi Morti who also played at the first Mi Ami and who, in their 30th anniversary year, will perform on all evenings of the festival with a different live show each night dedicated to a decade of their career. 'Even in this last case,' Pastore and Bottura continue, 'we can say that it is a circle that closes: in 2005, to allow us to do the festival, they came almost on an expense reimbursement basis. Today they come as an important band that has contributed to making Mi Ami important'.

A total of one hundred performances will take place on five stages over four evenings. This year, considering the four dates, the event will draw 30,000 spectators, compared to 23,000 in the previous edition, for total revenue of around 1.5 million. Mi Ami has had its fill of sponsors: there is a Dr. Martens stage, a Champion stage, a Jack Daniel's stage and an Idealista stage. Together they are worth 30% of the event's revenues. Because sponsors now 'recognise the weight of the Festival's communicative value'.