Ministri in concerto

On Sunday, February 22 (7:00 PM | entrance 18 euros | presales active on dice.fm – bit.ly/MinistriLecce), in anticipation of the twentieth edition of the SEI Festival organized by Coolclub, in collaboration with UASC, the Officine Cantelmo in Lecce will host the band Ministri, one of the most enduring and acclaimed rock bands in Italy. Following the success of the autumn tour promoting their new album "Aurora Popolare," which included stops in Milan, Turin, Bologna, Rome, and Molfetta, the trio is back on the road with the "Provincia Popolare Tour 2026" starting January 23. Davide “Divi” Autelitano (vocals and bass), Federico Dragogna (guitar and vocals), and Michele Esposito (drums) will travel from North to South Italy, starting in Livorno and also stopping in Taranto (on Saturday, February 21 at Spazioporto), to reconnect with clubs and venues that daily uphold and promote live music. Anticipated by the singles "Buuum," "Avvicinarsi alle casse," and "Piangere al lavoro," "Aurora Popolare" is one of the most powerful and inspired works of the band's twenty-year career, still capable of striking at the heart of the matter without leaving room for compromise. It addresses the decline of a generation's illusions, aware that none of the long-awaited, imagined, and dreamed revolutions will truly arrive.

THE TOUR
"For all those who have traveled kilometers to listen to 'Aurora Popolare' in big cities, and for those who could not be there, held back by distances or the commitments of everyday life; for the small clubs that resist almost heroically in areas where culture struggles to find support, and for all the places that stubbornly continue to propose live music: for all of them, we envisioned a tour that could give back at least part of what we have been given. We thought that this time, it was our turn to travel those kilometers," the band declares. This journey also marks a return to their roots, with the original trio formation, the same one that defined their most authentic identity twenty years ago. "Provincia Popolare" is a tour that will take Ministri to often marginalized yet extraordinarily vital regions, to make "Aurora Popolare" resonate wherever possible: even on essential, imperfect stages, and precisely for this reason full of value.

THE BAND
Ministri entered the Italian music scene in the autumn of 2006 with "I soldi sono finiti," a self-produced debut that immediately established them as a rock anomaly in a landscape dominated by hip hop and electronic music, thanks in part to an iconic cover. An intense live activity led the trio to sign with Universal and release “Tempi Bui” (2009), an album that established them nationally and opened a long season of tours, collaborations, and significant events. In 2010, they released "Fuori," while "Per un passato migliore" (2013), produced by Tommaso Colliva, debuted in the Top 10 FIMI and solidified their status as one of the central bands in the Italian independent scene, taking them to European stages as well. In 2015, they recorded "Cultura Generale" in Berlin with Gordon Raphael, which reached third place in the charts and was followed by an extensive and well-attended tour. With "Fidatevi" (2018), they continued a coherent and recognizable path, complemented by special projects, international collaborations, and incursions into cinema. In 2022, they released "Giuramenti," their seventh studio album, closing an artistic cycle initiated with the EP "Cronaca Nera" and "Musica Leggera," and sealed with the single "Da questo momento in poi." In 2023, they celebrated ten years of "Per un passato migliore" with a sold-out concert at Alcatraz in Milan. After the release of the EP "Live @MI AMI Festival" (2024), they will inaugurate a new phase in 2025 with "Aurora Popolare": a work that traverses anger and anticipation, promises and disillusionments, and reflects on the urgency of returning to hope just when everything seems to have cracked.