Saint Rock & FRANCA MASU: a capsule chroncle

1998

late June
On a tour bus for Las Vegas, Mark and Itria meet Fabio Bisaglia and his bride-to-be Anna Lina; they spend a few days together having fun and exchange email addresses...

1999

May 19th
Fabio sends an email to Mark, asking if he would be interested in hearing Franca's material. Fabio has a thriving web-design company in Porto Torres (Sassari) right near the bank where Antonello Porcheddu, Franca's husband, works, and Fabio and Antonello know each other.

June 6th
Mark receives Franca's demo CD & video. Enthusiastic about her voice, he calls to arrange a meeting. She proposes that he come to Sardinia to join the band on a couple of tunes in August. Mark thinks about it and proposes totally rearranging everything during an intense 10-day rehearsal where he can really get to know everybody personally and musically for mutual evaluation of the project.

July 27th
rehearsals start in Alghero. The first tune Mark tackles is "El corral de vidre".

August 5th
first concert with Mark: Quartu Sant'Elena (near Cagliari)
Mark, Marcello Peghin, Salvatore Maltana, Raimondo Dore, Andreu Ubach (FOH engineer: Michele Palmas)

August 6th
second concert: Alghero
personnel as above

October 28th
third concert: Milan
Mark, Marcello, Salvatore, Maxx Furian (FOH engineer: Gianluca De Marinis)

2000

January 7th
fourth concert: Alghero
Mark, Marcello, Salvatore, Raimondo, Andreu, Maxx (FOH engineer: M. Palmas)

January 9th
a month of rehearsal and backing-track recording begins at Mario Francesconi's "Ziggurath Studio" near Porto Torres (chief engineer: M. Palmas)

February10th - March 1st
rough mixes, vocals (3 days) and final mixes done at Antonello Venditti's "The Villa" near Rome (vocal and mixing engineer: Marco Priori)

March 17th & April 6th
mastering at Nautilus Mastering, Milan (mastering engineer: Claudio Giussani)

May 31st
ill-starred distribution agreement signed with a company near Milan which, unbeknownst to Mark, is already headed towards bankruptcy (it will fold in early October)
Mark sends 150 copies to Barcelona, where promotion begins. the first reviews appear and RadioCatalunya begins what will be a series of programs on and telephone interviews with Franca. another few hundred copies go to Sardinia, stimulating enormous interest among critics

July 22nd
fifth concert: Cagliari
Mark, Andreu, Maxx, Eros Cristiani, Andrea Zuppini, Marco Micheli (FOH engineer: M. Palmas)

August 10th
sixth concert: Sorso (near Sassari)
Mark, Eros, Andreu (FOH engineer: M. Palmas)

August 11th
seventh concert: Nora (near Cagliari)
personnel as above

September 16th
eighth concert: Vic (near Barcelona, Spain)
personnel as above (FOH engineer: M. Priori)
after two days of handing out promo copies, Mark entrusts his last 27 CDs with Joan Aniceto of Out Line Distribució, who requests a shipment
rave reviews appear the day after the concert in all the Catalan dailies, and a week later the prestigious weekly "El Temps" - with Franca's name on the cover! - sports a 4-page interview. another interview done at Vic for counterculture monthly "Enderrock" comes out in November with a gracious appreciation of Franca by Majorcan world-music star, Maria Mar De Bonet (see these and other articles elsewhere in the READ section).

November 10th
ninth concert: Alguer
piano & voice (FOH engineer: Mario Francesconi)

November 13th
deal made with pioneer contemporary Sardinian singer-songwriter Franca Madau's distribution company, Frorias

November 15th
during a month of headaches due to the sudden demise of Mark's Italian distributor (who disappears with some 4000 of Franca's CDs!), Mark prints up another closet-load and on this date a few hundred copies finally arrive at Out Line's warehouse near Barcelona; distribution in Catalonia begins

November 21th
Frorias gets first hefty batch of copies for Sardinia; regional distribution begins

November 25th
tenth concert: Cagliari
Mark, Eros (FOH engineer: Giovanni Cantini)

December 16th
eleventh concert: Sassari
Mark, Eros, Andreu (FOH engineer: Salvatore Manca)

2001

early January
Mark starts independent distribution to stores

January 17
"Oggi", Italy's biggest selling weekly, comes out with a review

January 18th
copies placed in Milan's "Virgin MegaStore" (piazza del Duomo)

February
"Enderrock"'s prestigious annual critics' poll awards Franca 7th place in the art-song section: "surprise of the year"!

March 8th
twelfth concert: Nuoro
Mark, Eros, Andreu (FOH engineer: M. Palmas)

April 7th
thirteenth concert: Alguer
piano & voice, plus gran finale with a 20+ piece choir (FOH engineer: M. Francesconi)

May
Spain-based German impresario Andreas Claus, intrigued by the project, offers to organize a showcase in Barcelona.

June 17th
Franca, Antonello and Mark leave for Barcelona for the first important radio interview.

June 18th
TV appearance on TV33 ("Saber que hi ets" live with Mark and Andreu).

June 19th-21st
Eros arrives. Rehearsals and more interviews with the media and press.

June 22nd
fourteenth concert: Barcelona - Sala Apolo
Mark, Eros, Andreu (FOH engineer: Didier Richard)

July 4th
fifteenth concert: Barcelona - Espai - "A prop" (TV3)
Mark and Andreu

July 5th
preliminary meeting with Andreas Claus to work out a strategy for fall concerts

August 11th
sixteenth concert: Burgos - Castello
Mark, Eros, Andreu (FOH engineer: Daniele Ferroni)

2002

March 8th
seventeenth concert: Burjassot (Valencia, Spain) - Teatre Tivoli
Mark, Eros, Andreu (FOH engineer: D. Richard)

June 7th
eighteenth concert: Madrid - Teatro Albeniz
Mark, Andreu, Salvatore, Paolo Alfonsi (Spanish guitar) (FOH engineer: D. Richard)

June 28th
Franca, accompanied by Mark, receives the prestigious "Rosa Vermella" - an award bestowed annually by the local chapter of the Rotary Club International - for outstanding merit in representing Alghero's culture

August 9th
nineteenth concert: Ittiri
Mark, Andreu, Paolo (FOH engineer: Pierpaolo Meloni)

August 29th
twentieth concert: Scano di Montiferro - Teatro Nonnu Mannu
Mark, Andreu, Paolo (FOH engineer: M. Francesconi)

August 30th
twenty-first concert: Quartu S. Elena - Parco Matteotti
personnel as above

August 31st
twenty-second concert: Castelsardo - Piazzale Chiesa S. Maria
personnel as above

September 11th
twenty-third concert: Barcelona - Passeig d'en Lluís Companys
Mark, Andreu, Paolo, Eros (FOH engineer: Abel Domingo)

September 13th
twenty-fourth concert: Florence - Piazza della Passera
Mark, Andreu, Paolo (FOH engineer: Gherardo Monti)