ATARAXIA POETRY OF SHADOWS Paradise Garage Alcāntara, Lisbon 10/January/1998 The Templar's Knights The band. Ataraxia are an Italian trio founded in 1985 and it's formed by Francesca Nicoli (vocals and flute),Vittorio Vandelli (guitar and computer) and Giovanni Pagliari (keyboard). There's a fourth element, a disguised dancer that usually participates in the shows. Worshiped by a vigorous minority of gothic-rock enthusiasts, Ataraxia distinguish themselves for the vocal gifts of Francesca Nicoli, for the blending of ancient and modern instruments, producing fetish ambiences lost in time, placing the sound somewhere between dark-folk, new wave, liturgical, medieval and baroque. They sing in Italian, Latin, French, English, Spanish and even Portuguese. The Venue. Paradise Garage, ex-Gartejo, revealed once more as the best show room in Lisbon (in the country?) for concerts of this dimension. In spite of being somewhat anonymous, Ataraxia assembled an appreciable audience of young and not so young gothic-rock fans, dressing black, wearing crosses and Andrew Eldritch-like sun glasses. Supporting act: the portuguese Poetry of Shadows. A perfect mix of lack of originality and pretentiousness. Poetry of Shadows is a band full of the typical characteristics of those gothic bands of the eighties and beginning of nineties, where the influence of Nephilim and Fields is clear. The show. Three pseudo-pulpits indicated the disposition of the stage, and a little bit after midnight Ataraxia came into scene. Francesca Nicoli read a text in English where Portugal, "land of secrets and mysteries" was presented as the theme to explore throughout the show, as it would happen through the themes "Almorol", "Nossa Senhora dos Anjos" and "Batalha". In half an hour Ataraxia presented new tracks, and others already released, like "Ophelie" and "Rei Soterranei Dell'Opera". The dancer performed a specific choreography for each theme. The second hour of the show wouldn't bring much novelty. "Nossa Senhora dos Anjos" a liturgical chant was repeated at the encore, gaining a certain notability with Francesca voice attaining prohibitive tones. The other songs confirmed what Ataraxia intended in musical terms: a strong predominance of Vitorio Vandelli classic guitar accompanying the pop-operatic voice of Francesca, imparting sonorous ambiences distant from new wave. However, the first encore theme "Lucrecia" step on the darkest territories of the music from the beginning of the eighties. Set: (1st part) Antinea (98); Ophelie (95); Hydra Hyali (98); Rei Sotterranei Dell'Opera (96); Almorol (98); Omne Datum Optimum (98); (2nd part) Le Ore Rosa Di Mazenderan (96); Filava Melis (98); Nossa Senhora dos Anjos (98); Batalha (98); Aperlae (98); (encores) Lucrecia (95); Charola (?); Nossa Senhora dos Anjos (98). PS: This concert was recorded in view of a future audio and video edition through the Portuguese label Symbiose. VJ