ACL Live Shot: Jovanotti

Photo by Jana Birchum

ACL MUSIC FEST

• Friday ACL Live Shots

• First Aid Kit

  BY DOUG FREEMAN

• The War on Drugs

  BY LUKE WINKIE

• The Relatives

  BY JIM CALIGIURI

• L.P.

  BY CHASE HOFFBERGER

• Esperanza Spalding

  BY CHASE HOFFBERGER

• Jovanotti

  BY THOMAS FAWCETT

• Umphrey's McGee

  BY JIM CALIGIURI

• Tegan & Sara

  BY ZOE CORDES SELBIN

• The Afghan Whigs

  BY ADAM SCHRAGIN

• Alabama Shakes

  BY ABBY JOHNSTON

• Florence + the Machine

  BY MELANIE HAUPT

• Weezer

  BY ZOE CORDES SELBIN

• AVICII

  BY LUKE WINKIE

• The Black Keys

  BY MELANIE HAUPT

• Saturday ACL Live Shots

• Wild Child

  BY DOUG FREEMAN

• Wheeler Brothers

  BY JIM CALIGIURI

• Zola Jesus

  BY ADAM SCHRAGIN

• Bombay Bicycle Club

  BY ABBY JOHNSTON

• Rufus Wainwright

  BY ZOE CORDES SELBIN

• Father John Misty

  BY DOUG FREEMAN

• Sonámbulo

  BY THOMAS FAWCETT

• Big K.R.I.T.

  BY CHASE HOFFBERGER

• Oberhofer

  BY ZOE CORDES SELBIN

• Andrew Bird

  BY ABBY JOHNSTON

• Lee Fields & the Expressions

  BY THOMAS FAWCETT

• Kishi Bashi

  BY MELANIE HAUPT

• The Roots

  BY CHASE HOFFBERGER

• Antibalas

  BY THOMAS FAWCETT

• Gotye

  BY MELANIE HAUPT

• Jack White

  BY LUKE WINKIE

• Neil Young & Crazy Horse

  BY JIM CALIGIURI

• Sunday ACL Live Shots

• The Eastern Sea

  BY ADAM SCHRAGIN

• Kimbra

  BY MELANIE HAUPT

• Stars

  BY ZOE CORDES SELBIN

• Gary Clark Jr.

  BY DOUG FREEMAN

• Two Door Cinema Club

  BY ABBY JOHNSTON

• Thundercat

  BY LUKE WINKIE

• The Lumineers

  BY DOUG FREEMAN

• Barrington Levy

  BY THOMAS FAWCETT

• Crystal Castles

  BY LUKE WINKIE

• Avett Brothers

  BY JIM CALIGIURI

• Iggy & the Stooges

  BY ADAM SCHRAGIN

• Red Hot Chili Peppers

  BY CHASE HOFFBERGER

Italian. English. Spanish. Language mattered little to an adoring crowd of dancing converts as Italian superstar Jovanotti served up a joyous patchwork of funk, hip-hop, and global grooves he slyly dubbed "Italian traditional Afrobeat." Dressed to party in a bright crimson button-up drenched in sweat by set's end and an electric yellow skinny tie to match his rail-thin frame, Jovanotti exuded enough charm and charisma to bridge any language gap. A lightning bolt onstage backed by a percussion-heavy sixpiece band, the fortysomething former teen idol wears his largely American influences on his sleeve. Between originals ("Battiti Di Ali Di Farfalla," "Safari," "Coraggio"), Jovanotti riffed off favorites from Sugarhill Gang ("Rapper's Delight") and Public Enemy ("Bring the Noise") to Michael Jackson ("Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'") and Bob Marley ("Natural Mystic"). Not quite covers, Jovanotti put his own playful (and trilingual) twist on all these numbers. Heck, he even remixed Austin's boastful nickname, calling it the Vatican of music. "I come from Rome, so I can tell you," he joked before closing with a raucous trip to "L'Ombelico del Mondo" – the belly button of the world.