It was the year 1979, a decade after the world was introduced to the gravelly-voiced singer who emerged from the coal mines of musical obscurity to become an unforgettable legend at Woodstock. Before that momentous performance, Joe Cocker was just another aspiring artist, but his Woodstock appearance catapulted him to fame, making him a living legend. Throughout his career, Cocker walked a fine line between success and the excesses that often accompany it.
On September 20, 1979, Cocker arrived in Casalmaggiore as part of the Woodstock in Europe program, a grand undertaking that had been years in the making. In the Casalasco region, this event was a significant component of the Recitarcantando program, which aimed to revive the spirit of Woodstock. On that historic evening, Cocker set the old town hall on Via Corsica ablaze with a performance that would be remembered for generations to come.
The incredible crowd on the evening of September 20, 1979
No one could have predicted the magnitude of what unfolded that night. In the history of Casalmaggiore, no event had ever drawn such an immense crowd to a sports facility. Fans flocked from the Oglio River region, neighboring provinces, and even from various parts of Northern Italy to witness Joe Cocker's unforgettable performance.
This remarkable episode is documented in the book "They Called It Polisportiva," which commemorates a century of sports history in Casalese. The memories of the event are still vivid among the organizers, many of whom were members of the local football club. They worked tirelessly to accommodate the colossal demand for tickets and to manage the logistics of an event of such unprecedented scale.
The preparations began at 2 pm, with the town paralyzed by traffic and Via Corsica inundated with a sea of people. Estimates suggest that around fifteen thousand people attended the concert, nearly the entire population of Casalmaggiore at the time. Such was the anticipation that the town's engineer, Giulio Donzelli, conducted static tests on the stands out of concern that the sheer number of spectators might pose structural issues.
Joe Cocker on the stage of the Comunale in via Corsica
The concert commenced at 9:30 pm, and within an hour, the bar had sold out of refreshments. This occurred even before Cocker's signature rendition of The Beatles' classic "With a Little Help from My Friends." Another Cocker hit, "You Can Leave Your Hat On," famously featured in the movie "9 1/2 Weeks," wouldn't arrive until 1986.
The organizers had strategically set up three refreshment points (at the bar, in the dressing room typically reserved for visiting teams, and in the referees' dressing room). They recall that the proceeds were transported, or rather, escorted, in bread bags, emptied by the throngs of spectators who fueled themselves with sandwiches and beer.
Moreover, for several days following the concert, the soccer field on which the event took place remained impassable due to the abundance of litter, including some cans and can tabs that could have potentially injured athletes. This detail even led to the Casalese football club requesting a change of venue for a couple of matches.
Remarkably, the substantial portion of the proceeds allocated to the host sports club enabled the Biancocelesti to cover the costs of practically the entire competitive season. This underlines the astronomical sums involved.
With numerous pros and very few cons, the evening of September 20, 1979, became an unforgettable event. It was a momentous occasion that remains etched in the collective memory, a tribute to Joe Cocker - the man who transformed Casalmaggiore into a Woodstock of its own with every raspy and unmistakable note he sang.