Somebody had trod on the power cable that stretched halfway across the square from the stage and pulled it out of its connection on the wall of a public building. (Methods of supplying electricity at free concerts can be pretty rudimentary as well.)

The power was reconnected, and the set was finished. Gong followed, and members of Gong and Henry Cow joined together for a finale. Virgin people, says chief Virgin Richard Branson, have long had a large and enthusiastic following in Italy. The crowd was large and the reception enthusiastic.


Graspers


I enjoyed the Cow/Wyatt set, which was much the same as their recent New London Theatre concert but played with a mite less intensity. Robert was less than overjoyed, mainly because he couldn't hear himself sing. He didn't join the finale. I enjoyed Gong less, though more than I usually enjoy them. Since David Allen's retirement they have become more shaped, perhaps more formal. But Steve Hillage looked uncomfortable in the role of front man and they sounded more stylised than stylish. Their ovation was loud and warm. Italy has named one of her main music papers Gong, said Branson proudly. Another is called Muzak. After Mike Oldfield? He sighed - maybe he'd heard it before.

However, the critic in me was off-duty most of the time in Rome. The music played was important, but mostly for the fact that it was played at all. The last time Italy saw non-Italian bands on stage was in March when Lou Reed and String Driven Thing played Milan. Missiles were hurled at the performers, promoters were branded as opportunist graspers, robbing the people to line their own nests, and a fire hose was turned on the riot police.

The notion of music performed for no charge, so prevalent in Germany and France in recent years, resulted in Italian promoters shutting up shop (certainly as far as international tours went). Rome's first major concert in a year was organised and partly financed by a coalition of the political Left and what it used to be acceptable to call the Underground. There was no charge to the consumers, but Richard Branson didn't exactly get in for nothing.

A COUPLE of months ago, a representative of the Left / Underground organisation Stampa Alternativa asked Virgin if they would be interested in supplying groups for a concert in Rome. In some senses it would be a test case (the Communist Party in Italy had approached Stampa's Ellio Donate to organise a series of concerts for them from September) and it would also be a celebration of Rome's continuing movement towards the left. Last month's gains for the Communists in regional elections all over the country emphasised that movement. Stampa raised about £1,000 towards the costs of the concert: Virgin agreed to provide the groups, and although the concert would be a co-promotion between Stampa and Muzak magazine, it would be underwritten by Virgin and its Italian licensee, Dischi Ricordi, to the tune of £1,500 each. The total cost would therefore be £4,000, which would cover the expenses, and pay what Richard Branson describes as "a small fee" to the musicians.


Idealism


At this point it might be an idea to underline some differences between Britain and Italy - particularly to explain the seemingly incongruous relationship between hippy/left idealism and a capitalist-dominated, often extraordinarily selfish rock business. In Britain, the idealism of the late Sixties appears to have faded into apathy inspired as much by idols with feet of clay and eyes on the tax havens as by direct opposition.

If there was ever any foundation for the idea that stamping your feet to rock bands as you waved a funny cigarette was a political act, it certainly ceases to have that implication when rock music and exotic cheroots are de rigueur at smart Hampstead dinner parties, and record company executives wear denims and keep a stash in the cocktail cabinet while they wheel and deal just like the boys in shiny suits.

Also the very idea of declaring yourself communist in a country run by what is, by European standards, a slightly right of-centre coalition in everything but name, where mild Lefties like Tony Benn are attacked as dangerous Commie firebrands, is enough to get you certified as loony, or merely laughed out of polite society.