In July, the Italian disco pop trio Nuovo Testamento released their EP titled Trouble. The EP consisted of five songs. All featured excellent vocals by lead singer Chelsey Crowley with synths (Andrea Mantione) and infectious beats that made for instantaneous earworms. I’m admittedly not familiar with the Italian disco genre, but I do love dance-pop. Upon listening, I felt this EP would appeal to fans of that genre. As a dance-pop fan, I can say the EP was a treat. Trouble certainly made me want to dance to the electronic-sounding beats. Although every track was a hit to me, my favorites in particular were “Dream On” and “On the Edge”. Since, I found myself unable to stop replaying them start to finish.
Speaking of dancing, on November 12, Nuovo Testamento graced Iowa City with their music live at The James Theater as a part of The Englert Theatre‘s Track Zero concert series, which highlights local and touring alternative artists. I attended the concert that night, fully ready to boost a move myself.
Before they went on, the show kicked off with three openers. First was Jeff In Leather, a dance/electronic artist based in Omaha, Nebraska. He had provided a strong start to the night with a hardcore but enthralling set. He was then followed by The Mall, a synth-punk artist who had an equally flashy set. It also inspired much headbanging from me and the audience. Lastly, there was Nuovo Testamento’s tour opener and electronic music artist Nuxx, who had flair I couldn’t help but admire when performing.
Any opener I’ve witnessed in my limited concert experience, has never let me down, which remains the case here. Each set from the openers contained amazing light shows and their performances got mine and the crowd’s blood pumping. They certainly were a fantastic build-up to the central act of the night and were quite the acts themselves. Admittedly, there’s a bit of a humorous transition from the hardcore electronic music to the flowy disco-pop but this didn’t cause the night to slow down.
Thankfully, once it was time for Nuovo Testamento, I managed to find an amazing spot on the floor right in front of the stage and very middle of the floor. I was very grateful for this amazing view, and it made the whole experience more immersive for me. The James Theater is a smaller venue, so many of the performers throughout the night came down from the stage and to the dancefloor where the audience and I were. It gave the show an overall more intimate feel, which I immensely cherished.
Once Crowley and band members Giacomo Zatti (drums) and Andrea Mantione, entered the stage, the audience’s adrenaline rush kicked in once again. Crowley, upon approaching the mic, cheerfully encouraged the audience to dance, remarking that she knew we could after seeing us watch the openers, which was something I was happy to oblige.
The band mostly performed tracks from Trouble, including “2 Hearts”, “Soldier for Love”, “On the Edge”, and “Dream On”. It was an absolute dream to hear my favorites from the EP performed live and be able to dance along to them.
Crowley certainly helped in sparking the dancing. She was a compelling performer in her own right, dancing onstage and clearly enjoying it so much that it was hard not to follow in her footsteps. She clearly wanted all of us moving on the dance floor, and she certainly delivered in convincing me to do so, much to my surprise.
Since this was my first time going to a concert alone and I prefer dancing in groups, I was nervous about dancing around a bunch of strangers. However, this night ended up being different. Shockingly I found myself disregarding all that and moving to the beat without a care in the world. Getting to dance to this upbeat music with these strangers became a new experience that I welcomed with open arms.
Nuovo Testamento also played some older tracks from their 2021 album New Earth, like “The Searcher” and “Vanity”. Although I’m not familiar with much of their older work, hearing these two tracks live made me want to check out this album in full, and the audience and I were still happily dancing.
Much like their openers, the group was illuminated by various colored lights. Once again, the audience and I were treated to light show with a lot of variety. For a group that produces such colorful music, it’s appropriate that they have an equally colorful stage to perform on.
After the show concluded, I was left with this post-concert high that I had missed. Seeing Nuovo Testamento illicited pure joy that can only be brought on by hearing a band so energetic live. But if you want to feel even fraction of that feeling, I’d recommend their new EP. In the meantime, that will certainly do the trick.
More information on upcoming Track Zero shows presented by The Englert Theatre can be found here.
