Last year we went to the first edition, and it was so great that we decided on a week’s holiday in 2026 in Cattolica and Gabicce in early September. For four days, the Adriatic Riviera changed its skin. Scooters, music, photography, vinyl, clothes, cinema, DJ sets and a community that flew in from the UK (500 people) with a few from Italy too (not more than a dozen…).
Modcast Goes Riviera Beat is a multi-space festival, with events held on the beaches, in the squares and bars, around the port and up in the hills, creating a kind of Mod village. The intuition comes from the ‘The Modcast’ experience, the brainchild of Eddie Piller, founder of Acid Jazz Records, along with Sarah Bolshi, and Piero Casanova of Riviera Beat.
I went down on the Vespa, Julie on the train, as this meant that we could easily get around the various festival locations. But good luck is blind, as they say, and on the way, in Russi di Romagna, someone pulled out of a side road without looking and the collision between car and Vespa was inevitable. And please don’t say that at 62 you should have gone by train too, as at your age you get a discount, because my reflexes were actually very good. In any case, it made for a great Quadrophenia-style scene. Fortunately, the only thing that hurt was my foot and I got back on and headed for the coast.
The ties between the Riviera, the Mod culture and the British imagination go way back. The first Italian Mods came here in the Sixties. And there is (still) a clothing brand called Gabicci. In more recent times, experiences like Riviera Beat have kept the dialogue between the British and Italian music cultures very much alive. The guiding thread of this event is the music. The programme brought together some key names from the Brit and international scenes: David Holmes, the man behind the soundtracks of Ocean’s Eleven and beyond, Steve Cradock of Ocean Colour Scene, Andy Smith of Portishead, Eddie Piller, Richard Searle, Neil Rushton, Wendy May, Hipshaker and many others besides.
The demonstration of the fact that Piero Casanova did a great job for this edition was the James Taylor Quartet concert, put on in the main square with the contribution of the Cattolica local council, and the Montefiori Cocktail event supported by the Gabicce administration. From 1 pm until the early hours at the Lamparino, even I had much to learn about soul, beat, funk and the club culture. Then, at the Mississippi Riviera Beat Pier in Gabicce Mare, you can easily see the similarities between Brighton and this part of the coast, albeit with a few substantial differences. Here there is sand and not pebbles. Here the sea is warm. Here the food is better.
Because of my foot, on Saturday we missed out on the Vespa and Lambretta road trip, which ended up in the square before the James Taylor Quartet concert. Then back to the Lamparino until very late with David Holmes. From 5 pm on Sunday, another great evening: Piero Casanova, a guy who knows his stuff, at the console, followed by the Cabaret Night with Montefiori Cocktail, the Magic Mod (an ingenious magician-comic), the live set by The Cuban Brothers, (great mix of music and comedy) blended in with some fun anecdotes told by Trevor Laird, one of the actors in “Quadrophenia”. All rounded off with sets by Andy Smith of Portishead and others, again late into the night.
Monday was the last day, and Gabicce Monte offers some amazing views. Here, the DJ sets and the Montefiori brothers, playing live as the sun set behind them, created an atmosphere more reminiscent of 1960s Capri “when the countesses acted like whores, not like today when the whores act like countesses” (as Gianni Agnelli once said). The festival ended that evening at the Mississippi with a round of beers and goodbyes. Especially with some key support staff, Giacomo and Noemi. Wonderful people.
A fantastic atmosphere, all in all. When we talk about Mod culture, there is always a risk of it becoming something rather nostalgic. Modcast has shown that this trap can be avoided. Because the past is the point of departure, not the point of arrival. And the tickets for the 2027 edition were already on sale the next day.
We stayed on an extra night, just in time to get back on the Vespa and hit the downpour between Bologna and Reggio…what was that about luck being blind?
Alessandro Gandino. Da piccolo voleva suonare nei Clash o giocare nella Juve. Tramontate, incredibilmente entrambe le ipotesi, ha lavorato come giornalista e addetto stampa. Ha trasmesso per Krock per 12 anni. Poi ha anche scritto tre libri “Non ci vorrà molto” 2019 , “Lomagna Miia” 2021. “Il Bancone è oggettivo” 2024.