Joan As Police Woman at Monk, 20 Years of Real Life Tour, May 5, 2027

Joan As Police Woman at Monk: on Wednesday, May 5, 2027, at 21:00, she brings to Monk in Rome the 20 Years of Real Life Tour, the series of trio concerts celebrating 20 years of her debut album, Real Life, played in full along with the most significant songs of her career. The concert, first announced for November 20, 2026 at Angelo Mai, is scheduled in Monk's Teatro hall, at Via Giuseppe Mirri 35, in the Casal Bertone neighborhood, less than a kilometer from Tiburtina station: you get there on Metro B or regional trains FL1, FL2 and FL3 to Tiburtina, or on buses 163, 409 and 545 as listed by the club. Tickets cost €31.36 on the presale network named by the organizer, the Associazione Angelo Mai, and the event is for over-18s only.

Joan As Police Woman at Monk: date, time and tickets

Joan As Police Woman's concert in Rome is set for Wednesday, May 5, 2027 at 21:00, at Monk. It's the only Rome date of the 20 Years of Real Life Tour, according to the calendar on the artist's official website, which lists the same time.

The change of date and venue

The Rome concert had been announced by Angelo Mai, together with IMARTS and Reveal Records, for November 20, 2026 at the association's venue on Viale delle Terme di Caracalla. The sales page and the artist's official calendar now list Wednesday, May 5, 2027 at Monk, with the Associazione Angelo Mai as organizer. If you had the November date in your calendar, update it.

Tickets

Tickets cost €31.36 on the presale network named by the organizer, which keeps them in digital format in its app. No door sales are planned, according to the same page: buy in good time.

Over-18s only

The evening is listed as an over-18 event. Bring ID.

Real Life, the album turning 20

Real Life is Joan As Police Woman's first album, released in the UK on June 12, 2006 on Reveal Records and in Europe on PIAS. It reached the United States a year later, on June 12, 2007, on Los Angeles label Cheap Lullaby Records.

The record and the singles

The album had three singles: Christobel, The Ride and Eternal Flame, the last with a video directed by Leah Meyerhoff. In 2008 Real Life won best pop rock album at the seventh Independent Music Awards.

The 2006 European tour

When the record came out, the artist set off on a European tour mixing headline shows and support slots for other bands, including Guillemots. It's the route that, 20 years later, the anniversary tour retraces through Europe's clubs and theaters.

What the anniversary means

In the tour presentation Joan Wasser says that music is a necessity for her more than a choice, and that Real Life held the key to her existence: at the time she felt the urgency to put everything into one record, because she couldn't imagine making another. 20 years and 12 albums later, she explains, the dream goes on, and going back to those songs moves her.

What you'll hear at Monk

The 20 Years of Real Life Tour is a series of trio concerts. According to the official presentation, Joan As Police Woman plays Real Life in full with her band, and the concert also includes the most significant singles of her whole career, fan favorites, deep cuts, rearranged covers and a few surprises.

The whole record

Hearing an album from start to finish, in the order it was conceived, is a different experience from a concert with a free setlist: the songs return to their context, with the transitions and silences between tracks. For those who know Real Life by heart, that's the main reason for the evening.

Beyond Real Life

The second part of the concert draws on a broad discography: after Real Life came To Survive in 2008, The Deep Field in 2011, The Classic in 2014, Damned Devotion in 2018, The Solution Is Restless in 2021 with Tony Allen and Dave Okumu, and Lemons, Limes and Orchids in 2024, plus cover collections and collaborative albums. The exact setlist hasn't been published.

The trio format

The trio is the lineup Joan As Police Woman started with: the first New York lineup, formed after 2002, had her on vocals and guitar, Ben Perowsky on drums and Rainy Orteca on bass. Going back to a trio to celebrate Real Life means returning those songs to their original scale. The names of the musicians playing at Monk haven't been published.

The covers

The rearranged covers announced in the presentation are a long-standing part of the artist's work, and she has devoted two albums to other people's songs, Cover in 2009 and Cover Two in 2020.

The 20 Years of Real Life Tour in Europe

The anniversary tour crosses Europe in two legs, according to the calendar on Joan As Police Woman's official website: a run of dates in November 2026 and a second between February and May 2027, which includes the Italian concerts.

The November 2026 dates

The fall leg starts on November 3 at Kinoteatr Rialto in Katowice and passes through Union Chapel in London, with two nights on November 5 and 6, the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, Oran Mor in Glasgow, Cactus Club in Bruges, Zonnehuis in Amsterdam, Mojo Club in Hamburg, Aarhus, Copenhagen, House of Music Hungary in Budapest and Haus des Rundfunks in Berlin, on November 22.

The 2027 dates and Italy

In 2027 the tour restarts in February at the Alhambra in Paris, returns to the UK with dates like Norwich and Leeds and reaches Italy: on February 26 at Estragon in Bologna and on February 27 at Santeria Toscana 31 in Milan. Rome comes later, on May 5 at Monk, and the calendar continues on May 23 at Razzmatazz 2 in Barcelona.

A tour of intimate venues

The venues chosen, from Union Chapel in London to mid-sized clubs and theaters, tell you the nature of the tour: trio concerts, designed for close listening. Monk, with its Teatro hall, fits that choice.

After Real Life: Joan As Police Woman's albums

Real Life was the first of a long series of albums. The tour presentation speaks of 12 albums in 20 years, counting collaborations and compilations.

To Survive and The Deep Field

To Survive, her second album, came out in June 2008 and features Rufus Wainwright on the song To America. The title refers to the loss of her mother, and the record made the year-end lists of Uncut and Q Magazine. The Deep Field, from 2011, includes the singles The Magic, Nervous and Chemmie and charted in many European countries.

From the 2010s to today

The Classic came out on March 10, 2014, with the single Holy City, Let It Be You, from 2016, is a joint album with Benjamin Lazar Davis, and Damned Devotion is from February 9, 2018. In 2019 came the anthology Joanthology, in 2020 a live album and Cover Two, in 2021 The Solution Is Restless with Tony Allen and Dave Okumu, and in 2024 Lemons, Limes and Orchids.

Who Joan As Police Woman is: Joan Wasser's biography

Joan As Police Woman is the stage name of Joan Wasser, an American musician, singer-songwriter and producer born in Biddeford, Maine, on July 26, 1970, and raised in Norwalk, Connecticut. The tour presentation calls her an icon of the New York scene.

The violin and her training

Joan Wasser began studying piano at six and violin at eight, playing in school and city orchestras. At 18 she started her music career while studying at Boston University's College of Fine Arts, where she studied with Yuri Mazurkevich among others and played in the Boston University Symphony Orchestra. Soon, though, she left the classical path for the city's punk bands, with the idea of playing the violin really loud.

The Dambuilders

In 1991 she joined the Dambuilders, a band that signed with Elektra Records in 1994. With them she recorded three albums as violinist, played Lollapalooza in 1995 and gradually added guitars, keyboards, vocals and cowritten songs. In 1996 she moved to Brooklyn, and the band broke up in October 1997.

Jeff Buckley and Black Beetle

In May 1997 her partner of three years, musician Jeff Buckley, drowned in Memphis. Joan Wasser kept playing with Those Bastard Souls, the band of a mutual friend, Dave Shouse, and at the end of 1997 formed Black Beetle with the remaining members of Buckley's band. It was the first project in which she wrote and sang as frontwoman: the violin, she has said, had long been her voice.

Antony and the Johnsons

In 1999 she joined Antony and the Johnsons, first as violinist and then as a permanent member, and played on I Am a Bird Now, the album that won the Mercury Prize. She has described that experience as a rebirth.

The birth of Joan As Police Woman

When Black Beetle ended, in June 2002, her solo work began. The name is inspired by the TV series Police Woman starring Angie Dickinson: a character both strong and seductive, and a name the artist wanted to be ironic, because, though she makes serious music, she likes to laugh at tragedy. The first trio, in New York, was with Ben Perowsky on drums and Rainy Orteca on bass, and in 2004 a self-released five-song EP came out. In December 2005 came the deal with Reveal Records, and in 2006 Real Life.

Collaborations

As violinist, singer and arranger Joan Wasser has worked live and in the studio with Elton John, Lou Reed, Rufus Wainwright, John Cale, Sheryl Crow, Scissor Sisters, Sparklehorse and Dave Gahan. In 2019, at an Africa Express concert organized by Damon Albarn, she met Tony Allen, with whom she recorded The Solution Is Restless, and in 2020 she sang on Gorillaz's Simplicity. She produced The Bell That Never Rang by Lau, a Scottish folk band.

A curious fact about Joan As Police Woman at Monk, 20 Years of Real Life Tour, May 5, 2027

The best-known curious fact concerns the name, and it's worth telling properly. Joan As Police Woman is a tribute to the TV series Police Woman, with Angie Dickinson as a policewoman. Joan Wasser has explained that she found the actress an inspiring figure, strong and sensual at once, and that she wanted a funny name: her music is serious, but she likes to laugh at tragedy. It's a name many in Italy read as a provocation, but it actually comes from admiration.

The second curious fact concerns the origin of her sound. While playing with others, Joan Wasser started writing songs that, in her words, sounded like old Al Green records. It's a useful key for listening to Real Life: beneath the indie rock surface lies the lesson of soul.

The third concerns the move from violin to voice. Before Black Beetle Joan Wasser had never sung lead: she has said that at first singing terrified her, because she didn't know the limits of her own voice. On May 5, at Monk, you hear the result of that leap.

Monk, the concert venue

Monk is a cultural club at the end of Via Giuseppe Mirri, at number 35, between Casal Bertone and Portonaccio, less than a kilometer from Tiburtina station. It has been active since 2014 and takes its name from jazz pianist Thelonious Sphere Monk.

Two farmhouses in a park

The club is made up of two farmhouses, totaling 500 square meters, and two outdoor areas inside a one-hectare park. It presents itself as a small rural world in a densely populated neighborhood.

The Teatro hall

Joan As Police Woman's concert is in the Teatro hall, Monk's indoor space. For a trio playing a whole album, with intimate passages and fuller moments, an indoor hall of this size allows attentive listening.

A space that does many things

Monk hosts big and small concerts, theater, workshops, book launches, festivals, markets and family activities, with a bar and a kitchen. In May, with the evenings getting longer, the park becomes part of club life again.

Contacts

For information on the club, its spaces and accessibility, Monk lists the address info@monkroma.it, and its official website has a section devoted to tickets for upcoming concerts. Joan As Police Woman's concert is organized by the Associazione Angelo Mai, which presented the event together with IMARTS and Reveal Records, the British label that released Real Life in 2006.

Something nobody tells you about Joan As Police Woman at Monk, 20 Years of Real Life Tour, May 5, 2027

What's rarely said is how closely Real Life is tied to Jeff Buckley. Joan Wasser was Buckley's partner when he died, in 1997, and in the following years she played with his band in Black Beetle and had to learn to sing. Real Life, released nine years later, is the record of someone who went through that grief and came out with a voice of her own. If you listen to the album thinking only of its fine pop songwriting, you catch half of it.

The second rarely mentioned thing concerns the nature of the evening. A concert playing an album in full is a ritual for those who know it, but it can feel less immediate for those discovering the artist that day. The presentation also promises singles, favorites, covers and surprises: the second part of the concert is the way in if you arrive without knowing Real Life.

The third is practical: May 5, 2027 is a Wednesday. A weeknight concert at 21:00, in a club with a kitchen, lets you eat on site and get home at a reasonable hour, but check public transit for the way back in advance.

My tip for Joan As Police Woman at Monk, 20 Years of Real Life Tour, May 5, 2027

My tip is to listen to Real Life again in full, from start to finish, in the days before the concert. It's the way to arrive at Monk with the track order in your head and enjoy the evening as a return, not a discovery. If you don't know the record, start with the three singles, Christobel, The Ride and Eternal Flame.

Second point: arrive early. Monk has a kitchen with a food truck, and arriving an hour ahead lets you eat and take your place in the hall calmly. In a concert built partly on intimate passages, standing in the middle of the crowd rather than at the back by the bar makes a difference.

Third point: respect the silences. Chatter at the bar carries all the way to the stage, and in a trio show every noise counts. Keeping your voice down during the quieter songs is the best way to enjoy the fuller ones too.

How to get to Monk

Monk is at Via Giuseppe Mirri 35, less than a kilometer from Tiburtina station, and can be reached by Metro B, regional trains FL1, FL2 and FL3, or buses 163, 409 and 545 as listed on its official website.

By metro and train

From Tiburtina station you can walk to Via Giuseppe Mirri. From Termini, Metro B takes you to Tiburtina in a few minutes. On a Wednesday night, check the time of the last train on the ATAC website before you go out.

By bus

Lines 163, 409 and 545 serve the Monk area. For the exact route from your starting point, the most reliable tool is ATAC's journey planner, checked on the day itself.

By car and taxi

Casal Bertone is outside the center's limited traffic zone, and street parking is possible, depending on the night. For the late ride home a taxi remains the easiest choice.

Another well-known fact, yet one rarely mentioned

It's well known that Joan As Police Woman is one of the most admired voices of American songwriting in Europe, and that her audience on the continent is especially devoted. Less often remembered is that her solo career was born precisely in Europe: Real Life came out first in the UK, on a British independent label, and only a year later in the United States. Her later albums charted in Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, the UK and Italy too.

The second rarely mentioned fact concerns her career as a musician for others. Before she was Joan As Police Woman, Joan Wasser was for years a sought-after violinist: in the Dambuilders, in Antony and the Johnsons, on tour with Rufus Wainwright and Joseph Arthur. In 2004 Wainwright asked her to join his touring band for backing vocals and strings. The anniversary tour trio sums up these two lives: the band musician and the songwriter.

The third concerns Monk. A club named after a jazz pianist hosts a songwriter who described her first songs as sounding like old Al Green records: the thread of Black American music runs through this evening too.

The right photo to take at Joan As Police Woman at Monk, 20 Years of Real Life Tour, May 5, 2027

The right photo at a trio concert isn't the close-up: it's the whole band on stage, with the three musicians lit and the audience silhouetted in front. From one side of the hall, a few meters back, you can frame it all, something impossible with bigger lineups.

No flash: in clubs it flattens the lighting and bothers both players and listeners. During the quieter songs the phone stays in your pocket: a lit screen can be seen from the stage. A short video of the opening of a Real Life song is worth more than dozens of blurry photos.

A second photo is taken before the concert, outside: Monk's park with its two farmhouses, in the long light of a May evening. It's the image of the place, a little countryside among the Tiburtina tracks.

Casal Bertone and the area around Monk

Casal Bertone is a neighborhood in the east of Rome, between the Tiburtina railway, Via Prenestina and Portonaccio: a dense working-class area that grew up alongside the tracks.

The Verano and San Lorenzo

A little farther west, across the railway, are the Verano Cemetery and the basilica of San Lorenzo fuori le Mura. The San Lorenzo neighborhood, with its student and evening life, is a few minutes away by taxi.

Villa Torlonia

To the north, along Via Nomentana, is Villa Torlonia: in May, with the long days, it's the most pleasant visit before the concert.

Some important events that happened here in history

Monk's history as a cultural space begins in 2014, when the two farmhouses on Via Giuseppe Mirri and the surrounding park became a place open to the city, with concerts, theater, workshops, book launches and family activities. From the start the club has stressed its openness to all ages and the absence of architectural barriers.

Over the years Monk has broadened its programming. In fall 2026 alone its lineup strung together American rock, jazz, electronica and songwriting: the Lemonheads, Fink, the Fleshtones, Mark Guiliana, Brazil's Azymüth and corto.alto. In summer the club lives in the park, in winter in the Teatro hall, and more recently it has introduced vibrating vests for deaf people at some concerts.

The artist playing there on May 5, 2027 has her own dates too: 1991 and the Dambuilders, 1997 and Jeff Buckley's death, 1999 and Antony and the Johnsons, 2002 and the birth of Joan As Police Woman, June 12, 2006 and Real Life, 2008 and the Independent Music Awards prize. The Rome concert comes almost 21 years after the record's release.

Who has passed through Joan As Police Woman at Monk, 20 Years of Real Life Tour, May 5, 2027

Joan Wasser's career includes some of the most important names in rock and songwriting of the last 30 years: Jeff Buckley, Antony and the Johnsons, Rufus Wainwright, who sings on To America, Lou Reed, John Cale, Elton John, Sheryl Crow, Scissor Sisters, Sparklehorse, Dave Gahan, Joseph Arthur, Guillemots, Tony Allen, Dave Okumu, Damon Albarn and Gorillaz. Radiohead's Colin Greenwood was a fan of the Dambuilders.

Real Life's story includes Ben Perowsky and Rainy Orteca, the first New York trio, Reveal Records, the British label that bet on the record, and Leah Meyerhoff, director of the Eternal Flame video. The anniversary tour is organized in Italy with IMARTS and Reveal Records.

In fall 2026 alone, Monk's stage saw the Lemonheads, Fink, the Fleshtones and Mark Guiliana: different artists, united by programming that alternates rock, jazz and songwriting. On May 5 a New York songwriter and her band join them.

How to plan your evening at Monk

A Wednesday concert at 21:00, in early May, is planned around Monk and Tiburtina station.

Before the concert

With the long May days you can reach Monk in daylight, eat at the club's kitchen and spend a few minutes in the park before going into the hall. If you have the afternoon free, you can visit Villa Torlonia or the Verano and get to Casal Bertone around 20:00.

After the concert

You head back on foot to Tiburtina and then on Metro B, if the time allows, or by taxi. If you're arriving by train from outside Rome, check the last connection from Tiburtina in advance.

Where to eat at Monk and nearby

Monk has its own kitchen with a food truck: the menu published by the club includes burgers, supplì, falafel, eggplant parmigiana and more, with vegan and gluten-free options. It's the most practical option before the concert. If you'd rather sit down to dinner, you'll find neighborhood trattorias and pizzerias between Casal Bertone and Portonaccio, and a much wider choice in San Lorenzo, a few minutes away.

Accessibility and practical information

Monk states that its spaces are free of architectural barriers and publishes a page devoted to accessibility, with rules for minors and services for deaf people.

Vibrating vests for deaf people

For some events flagged in the program, Monk provides Woojer Vest 3 vibrating vests, which let you feel music on your body. To find out if the service is available for this concert, write to info@monkroma.it.

Age

Joan As Police Woman's concert is listed as an over-18 event: the club's general rules for children don't apply to this night.

May in Rome

In early May Roman evenings are mild and the days long: you reach Monk in daylight, and the club's park is pleasant before the concert. A light jacket is enough for the way home, but in May an evening downpour isn't rare in Rome: better to have a folding umbrella.

Frequently asked questions about Joan As Police Woman in Rome

When does Joan As Police Woman play Rome?

Joan As Police Woman plays Rome on Wednesday, May 5, 2027 at 21:00 at Monk, Via Giuseppe Mirri 35, with the 20 Years of Real Life Tour. The concert had first been announced for November 20, 2026 at Angelo Mai.

How much is a ticket for Joan As Police Woman at Monk?

A ticket for Joan As Police Woman at Monk costs €31.36 on the presale network named by the organizer, the Associazione Angelo Mai. The event is for over-18s only.

What does Joan As Police Woman play on the Real Life tour?

On the 20 Years of Real Life Tour Joan As Police Woman plays Real Life, her 2006 debut album, in full with her trio, adding singles from her whole career, fan favorites, deep cuts, rearranged covers and surprises.

Who is Joan As Police Woman?

Joan As Police Woman is the stage name of Joan Wasser, an American singer-songwriter, violinist and producer born in 1970. She played with the Dambuilders and Antony and the Johnsons, and since 2006 has released a long series of albums under her own name.

How do you get to Monk?

Monk, at Via Giuseppe Mirri 35, is reached by Metro B or trains FL1, FL2 and FL3 to Tiburtina station, less than a kilometer away, or by buses 163, 409 and 545 as listed by the club.

Why isn't Joan As Police Woman's concert at Angelo Mai anymore?

Joan As Police Woman's concert, presented by the Associazione Angelo Mai, had been announced for November 20, 2026 at the association's venue. The organizers haven't published an explanation, and the sales page and the artist's calendar now list May 5, 2027 at Monk.

When did Real Life come out?

Real Life, Joan As Police Woman's first album, came out on June 12, 2006 in the UK on Reveal Records and on June 12, 2007 in the United States. In 2008 it won best pop rock album at the Independent Music Awards.

Is Joan As Police Woman's concert in Italian or English?

Joan As Police Woman's concert at Monk is in English, the language of all her songs. The tour presentation, released in Italian by the Associazione Angelo Mai, promises a trio concert with Real Life in full, singles, covers and surprises.

Does Joan As Police Woman play other Italian cities?

Yes: the official 20 Years of Real Life Tour calendar lists, besides Rome on May 5, 2027 at Monk, February 26, 2027 at Estragon in Bologna and February 27, 2027 at Santeria Toscana 31 in Milan.

Final tip on Joan As Police Woman at Monk

A debut album played in full 20 years after its release, a songwriter who has crossed American rock from the Dambuilders to Antony and the Johnsons, a trio in a club hall inside a park in Casal Bertone: in our opinion it's one of the concerts to mark right away for the Roman spring of 2027. Update your calendar with the new date, listen to Real Life again from start to finish, arrive early to eat at Monk and give the quieter songs all the silence they ask for.

Article written by the editorial team of Tour Leader Pro, contact them for Private/Corporate/V.I.P. Tours and Experiences.

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