Riccardo Bertoncelli

Shows

In the 1960s, something irreversible happened to Western culture: music ceased to be mere entertainment and became exploration. Guitars distorted, lyrics grew visionary, and album covers transformed graphic design into landscapes of the subconscious. Psychedelia was not just a musical genre—it was a radically new way of being in the world, a short-circuit between art, politics, philosophy, and altered states of consciousness that would change the face of popular culture forever.

In this lecture, Riccardo Bertoncelli—one of Italy’s most authoritative music critics and historians—retraces the milestone stages of that journey: from the early experimentation of Californian rock to the sonic labyrinths of Pink Floyd, from the chromatic explosions of Jimi Hendrix to the cosmic drifts of European krautrock, all the way to the legacy psychedelia has left behind for subsequent generations and today’s music.

A narrative that serves as a map: of the sounds, the ideas, the artists, and the movements that turned psychedelia into one of the most fascinating and enduring chapters in twentieth-century music history.

To follow, a live show by Robyn Hitchcock.