PFM Premiata Forneria Marconi, On the Road Again at Teatro Brancaccio, February 6, 2027

PFM, Premiata Forneria Marconi, plays at Teatro Brancaccio, at Via Merulana 244 (00185 Rome), on Saturday, February 6, 2027 at 21:00 with On the Road Again, the concert subtitled Cook and La buona novella, for one night only. On stage are Franz Di Cioccio on vocals and drums, Patrick Djivas on bass, Lucio Fabbri on violin, Alessandro Scaglione on keyboards, Marco Sfogli on guitar, Eugenio Mori on second drums and, as special guest, Luca Zabbini. The theater is reached by Metro Line A, Vittorio Emanuele stop, a few minutes' walk away, or by the buses that run along Via Merulana. The theater's price list runs from 32 to 69 euros: Poltronissima A 69 euros, Poltronissima B 55 euros, Poltrona A and B and first balcony A 48 euros, first balcony B 38 euros, second balcony 32 euros. Tickets are bought on the official Teatro Brancaccio website, with the purchase button that links to the presale network authorized by the organizer, or at the box office on Via Merulana, open Tuesday to Saturday from 16:00 to 19:00.

PFM at the Brancaccio: date, time and prices

PFM plays in concert at Teatro Brancaccio in Rome on Saturday, February 6, 2027 at 21:00, on a single date, with On the Road Again and tickets from 32 to 69 euros.

A Saturday night

The theater's calendar lists a single date, on Saturday night. It is the most convenient evening for people coming from outside Rome, and the Brancaccio places it in the 2026/2027 season under Concerts.

Orchestra prices

In the orchestra the price list has 69 euros for Poltronissima A, 55 euros for Poltronissima B and 48 euros for Poltrona, in both section A and section B. The jump between the first price tier and the second is 14 euros.

Balcony prices

First balcony A costs 48 euros like Poltrona, first balcony B 38 euros. The second balcony, sections A and B, 32 euros. For a rock concert in a theater, the first balcony offers an overall sound and a view of the whole lineup, both drum kits included.

Where to buy

The concert page on the Teatro Brancaccio website has a purchase button linked to the presale network authorized by the organizer. Alternatively, you can buy at the box office at Via Merulana 244, open to the public Tuesday to Saturday from 16:00 to 19:00. It is closed on Monday, and on Sunday it opens only during show hours.

On the Road Again: what you will hear

On the Road Again is the PFM concert that Teatro Brancaccio presents with the subtitle Cook and La buona novella: two titles that recall two fundamental chapters in the band's history, the first live album recorded in the United States in 1974 and the Fabrizio De André record that the future members of PFM worked on in 1970.

Rock, progressive and classical

The theater's presentation describes PFM's style as a combination of the expressive power of rock, progressive and classical music in a single entity. It is the formula that made the band the only Italian progressive act of the 1970s to succeed outside national borders, particularly in the United States.

Every concert is different

Every PFM concert, the theater stresses, is unique, thanks to the deep understanding among the musicians on stage, who can offer small variations every night that keep the sound always current. The presentation speaks of technical mastery, respect, passion and freshness.

Cook

Cook is PFM's first live album, taken from the first tour in the United States and released in 1974. In Italy it came out under the title Live in USA. The record entered the Billboard chart and documents the band at its peak of international form, after 50 dates in North America.

La buona novella

La buona novella is the 1970 album by Fabrizio De André, inspired by the apocryphal gospels, on which the musicians of Quelli played with Mauro Pagani. From that meeting PFM was born. In 2010 the band released a re-recording of it with new arrangements, A.D. 2010, La buona novella, with more than half an hour of added instrumental pieces. The setlist for the Roman evening is not published. The subtitle does, however, indicate the two worlds the concert crosses.

The lineup on the Brancaccio stage

On the Brancaccio stage PFM appears with Franz Di Cioccio on vocals and drums, Patrick Djivas on bass, Lucio Fabbri on violin and backing vocals, Alessandro Scaglione on keyboards and backing vocals, Marco Sfogli on guitar, Eugenio Mori on second drums and Luca Zabbini, special guest, on keyboards, guitar and vocals.

Franz Di Cioccio

Di Cioccio is the only founder in the lineup announced for Rome. Drummer of Quelli in the 1960s, since the late 1970s he has also been PFM's singer and frontman, the band's most recognizable face.

Patrick Djivas

Djivas joined PFM in 1973, coming from Area, replacing bassist Giorgio Piazza, shortly before the recording of L'isola di niente. He is the bass you hear on Cook: his presence in Rome ties the evening directly to the record in the subtitle.

Lucio Fabbri

Lucio Fabbri, a multi-instrumentalist, joined the band at the time of the tour with Fabrizio De André in the late 1970s, and has returned several times to play with PFM. His violin is one of the voices of the group's classical sound.

Two drum kits

The presence of a second drum kit, entrusted to Eugenio Mori, has a long history: since the late 1970s, when Di Cioccio moved to vocals, PFM has had a second drummer in concert.

Scaglione, Sfogli and Zabbini

The lineup is completed by Alessandro Scaglione on keyboards, Marco Sfogli on guitar and special guest Luca Zabbini, whom the theater lists on keyboards, guitar and vocals. Three musicians of younger generations, who bring to the stage the repertoire of a band born more than 50 years ago.

The history of PFM: from Quelli to worldwide success

Premiata Forneria Marconi is an Italian progressive rock band formed in Milan in 1971. Among the Italian progressive groups of the 1970s it was the only one to achieve real international success, even entering the Billboard album chart.

Quelli and Krel

PFM was born from Quelli, a quintet much appreciated in the 1960s for the technique of its members. Franz Di Cioccio, Franco Mussida, Flavio Premoli and Giorgio Piazza were among the most sought-after studio musicians and played on records by Mina, Lucio Battisti and Fabrizio De André. In 1970 they abandoned the song form and became Krel.

The name

Decisive was the meeting with violinist and flutist Mauro Pagani during the recording of De André's La buona novella. With the move to Battisti and Mogol's label Numero Uno, a new name was needed. Among the proposals, Isotta Fraschini and Forneria Marconi remained, from the name of a bakery Pagani frequented in Chiari, in the province of Brescia. The second won, with the addition of Premiata. To the record executives who found it too long, the band replied that the harder a name is to remember, the harder it is to forget.

Impressioni di settembre

In 1971 the first single came out, La carrozza di Hans and Impressioni di settembre, followed in 1972 by the album Storia di un minuto. Impressioni di settembre, by Mussida and Pagani with lyrics by Mogol, became a classic of Italian music. On that record, for the first time in Italy, a Minimoog synthesizer was used, borrowed from the only unit owned by the Italian importer.

London, Reading and America

After the second album, Per un amico, the band was noticed by Greg Lake of Emerson, Lake and Palmer and taken to London, where Peter Sinfield wrote the English lyrics. Photos of Ghosts, from 1973, was born. On August 26 PFM played the Reading Festival, the same day as Genesis. L'isola di niente followed, the English version The World Became the World, the first American tour and Cook. In 1975, with singer Bernardo Lanzetti, came Chocolate Kings, and a concert at the Royal Albert Hall in London before the Queen Mother.

De André and the 1980s

In 1978 and 1979 PFM went on tour with Fabrizio De André. Two live albums and arrangements that became historic came out of it, such as the one for Il pescatore, which De André used for the rest of his life. Suonare suonare, from 1980, and Come ti va in riva alla città, from 1981, followed, anticipating Italian rock of the decade. In 1987 the band stopped playing live, without ever officially breaking up.

The return

The return came in 1997 with Ulisse, a concept album on the theme of the journey with lyrics by Vincenzo Incenzo. In 2004 the show PFM canta De André began, in 2005 the rock opera Dracula, and in 2009 the first appearance at the Sanremo Festival, to pay homage to De André 10 years after his death. In 2011, again at Sanremo, PFM played Chiamami ancora amore with Roberto Vecchioni, the song that won the festival. Since 2011 it has also toured PFM in Classic, with the music of Beethoven, Mozart, Verdi and Rossini rearranged with orchestra.

A curiosity about PFM Premiata Forneria Marconi, On the Road Again at Teatro Brancaccio, February 6, 2027

The most interesting curiosity ties PFM to Rome. On December 20, 1972, during a concert in Rome to present the second album, Per un amico, the band was heard by Greg Lake, bassist and singer of Emerson, Lake and Palmer. Lake was enthusiastic and took the musicians to London, to the Manticore label's offices, in front of Peter Sinfield, the lyricist of early King Crimson. From that Roman evening began the international career that would take the band to the Reading Festival, to America and, two years later, to Cook, the live record that gives the Brancaccio concert its subtitle.

The second curiosity concerns the band's name in English-speaking countries: to make it easier to pronounce, Sinfield proposed shortening it to the initials PFM. That is why today, even in Italy, the band is known above all by the three letters.

The third curiosity is in the subtitle itself. Cook and La buona novella sit at the two extremes of the band's history: PFM was born from the meeting between Quelli and Mauro Pagani during the recording of De André's record, and found worldwide success with the American tour documented in Cook. A concert that puts them together tells, in one evening, the origin and the peak.

Teatro Brancaccio, the concert hall

Teatro Brancaccio, at Via Merulana 244, is one of the largest halls in Rome. In its 1937 configuration it has two foyers, a wide orchestra section and two balcony levels, for about 2,000 seats at the time.

The hall

The orchestra is divided into the Poltronissima and Poltrona sections, with tiers A and B. Above are the first balcony, divided into A and B, and the second balcony. The balconies are reached on foot, without an elevator.

A rock concert while seated

Listening to PFM in a theater, seated, is a different experience from large arenas or open-air festivals. The long instrumental parts, the passages between violin and keyboards, the variations the band introduces every night are better caught in a hall with good acoustics and an attentive audience. The Brancaccio, born as a variety theater and home of the Opera di Roma for 15 years, is used to hosting concerts.

Via Merulana complex

The main hall is part of a complex that includes the Brancaccino, a theater of about 100 seats, a training area and a terrace on Via Merulana. The full page about the venue is on our page dedicated to Teatro Brancaccio.

One thing nobody tells you about PFM Premiata Forneria Marconi, On the Road Again at Teatro Brancaccio, February 6, 2027

What is not said is that today's PFM is not the lineup of the 1970s. Of the musicians who recorded Storia di un minuto, Franz Di Cioccio is the one left on stage. Patrick Djivas arrived in 1973. Franco Mussida, Flavio Premoli and Mauro Pagani are not part of the lineup announced for Rome. Anyone expecting a reunion of the classic lineup will instead find a renewed band, with younger musicians, carrying on the repertoire with the same philosophy as always: a few variations every night.

The second thing concerns the repertoire. The subtitle speaks of Cook and La buona novella, but the theater does not publish the setlist. It is reasonable to expect the pieces tied to the two titles, but the presentation insists that every concert is different. If you are hoping for a specific piece, such as Impressioni di settembre or Celebration, you have to accept a margin of surprise.

The third thing is practical: with seven musicians and two drum kits, the volume in the hall will be that of a rock concert, not a recital. If you bring teenagers or are sensitive to sound, you would do well to choose a seat not too close to the amplifiers, and maybe bring earplugs.

How to get to Teatro Brancaccio

Teatro Brancaccio is at Via Merulana 244, in the Esquilino district, less than a kilometer from Termini station and a few steps from the Vittorio Emanuele stop of metro line A.

Metro

The nearest stop is Vittorio Emanuele, on Line A. You exit onto Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II and reach Via Merulana in a few minutes. Alternatively there is the Cavour stop on Line B, with a longer walk. From Termini you can also walk, passing by Santa Maria Maggiore.

Bus

The theater lists three stops. On Via Merulana, at the Merulana/Brancaccio and Merulana/Mecenate stops, lines 16, 75, 714, 717 and C3 run. At the Labicana/Merulana stop, lines 3, 53, 75, 85, 87, 186, 571, 810, C3 and the night bus N10 run, handy for getting home after the concert.

Taxi

The taxi stands listed by the theater are in Largo Brancaccio, in Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II at number 113, at Via Principe Amedeo 138, at Via Giolitti 6 and in Via Venosta. On Saturday night demand is high, so it is better to book the ride.

Car

The theater does not list affiliated parking, and parking in the Esquilino on Saturday night is difficult. If you come from outside Rome, you are better off leaving the car near a Metro station and continuing by Metro, checking the schedules first on the Atac route planner.

The advice I give you for visiting PFM Premiata Forneria Marconi, On the Road Again at Teatro Brancaccio, February 6, 2027

My advice is to choose first balcony A, at 48 euros, the same price as Poltrona. For a concert with seven musicians, two drum kits, violin and keyboards, the view from above lets you follow the exchanges between the instruments and see the whole lineup. If you want to experience the concert up close, and feel Di Cioccio's physical presence on the drums, choose Poltronissima instead.

The second piece of advice concerns preparation. If you know PFM only from Impressioni di settembre, you would do well to listen first to Cook, the 1974 American live album, and to De André's La buona novella, maybe also the band's 2010 re-recording. The evening's subtitle says those two worlds will be at the center, and arriving with trained ears changes the listening a lot.

The third piece of advice is to bring a son or grandson who plays an instrument. PFM is one of the few Italian bands in which instrumental technique is the heart of the concert, and for a young musician seeing musicians of this level live is a lesson no video can replace.

Another well-known fact, yet rarely mentioned

It is well known that PFM played with Fabrizio De André on the famous 1978 and 1979 tour, from which came two live albums and the arrangement of Il pescatore that De André kept for the rest of his life. Much less is said about the link between the band and the Genoese singer-songwriter having begun almost 10 years earlier, when Quelli played in the studio for La buona novella, and that it was in those very sessions that the meeting with Mauro Pagani took place, which would give birth to PFM.

A second little-cited fact concerns technology. On Storia di un minuto, the first album, from 1972, a Minimoog synthesizer was used for the first time in Italy: an instrument so rare that the band had to borrow the only unit owned by the Italian importer. The synthesizer riff of Celebration, the English version of È festa, would become the band's trademark abroad.

Finally, a fact tied to Rome. In November 2010 PFM closed the first evening of the Prog Exhibition at Teatro Tendastrisce, playing a few pieces with Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull. The album Live in Roma came out of that concert. On May 14, 2011 the band played in the Sala Sinopoli of the Auditorium Parco della Musica, with a first part devoted to De André and a second to its own hits.

Brancaccio house rules: what to know

The Teatro Brancaccio rules apply to concerts too: arrive well in advance, no entry once the show has started, no photos or filming, no food in the hall.

Bags, umbrellas and coat check

The theater has a coat check, a bar and merchandising sales. Umbrellas are not allowed in the hall and must be left at the coat check. Plastic bottles over half a liter, glass containers, motorcycle helmets, professional cameras, tripods and selfie sticks are not allowed.

Seats

You take only your assigned seat, without moving to empty seats. At a rock concert the temptation to stand up is strong, especially at the finales. The advice is to do it only when the rest of the hall does.

Phones

Photos and filming are forbidden. For a concert the rule weighs, but it serves to enjoy the music without lit screens in front of your eyes.

The right photo to take at PFM Premiata Forneria Marconi, On the Road Again at Teatro Brancaccio, February 6, 2027

No photos during the concert: the Brancaccio rules forbid photographing and filming, even with a cell phone. The right photo is taken before and after.

The first is the theater's facade on Via Merulana, in the evening, with the entrance lights on. The advice is to cross the street and shoot from the opposite sidewalk, with a wide lens, so that both the front of the theater and a stretch of the street are in the frame.

The second photo is for collectors: the concert ticket next to the cover of Cook or La buona novella, maybe a vinyl brought from home. It is the simplest way to tell about an evening that crosses 50 years of music.

The third photo is taken in the neighborhood: the Porta Alchemica in Piazza Vittorio, a few minutes from the theater, is one of the most photographed corners of the Esquilino, and in the evening it has a mysterious air that fits well with the atmospheres of progressive rock.

Around the Brancaccio: Esquilino, Monti and Via Merulana

Teatro Brancaccio is on Via Merulana, between the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore and the Basilica of San Giovanni in Laterano, in the Esquilino district.

Two basilicas and an ancient auditorium

Via Merulana runs between Santa Maria Maggiore and the Basilica of San Giovanni in Laterano. Along the same street is Palazzo Merulana and, a little further on, the Auditorium of Maecenas, the hall from Roman times that bears the name of the patron of Horace and Virgil: a place of music and poetry from 2,000 years ago, a few steps from a rock concert.

Piazza Vittorio and Monti

To the north is Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II, the heart of the multiethnic Esquilino. To the west the street descends into the Monti district, described in our page on the Monti district, with places open until late on Saturday night.

Some important events that took place here in history

The history of Teatro Brancaccio begins in January 1916, when the hall was inaugurated under the name Teatro Morgana, right next to the gardens of the Field-Brancaccio palace, the family that takes its name from Isabella Field, married to Prince Brancaccio.

In 1937 the hall was inaugurated in its present configuration, with two foyers, a wide orchestra section and two balconies for about 2,000 seats, and took the name Teatro Brancaccio. In 1985 it became the home of the Fondazione dell'Opera di Roma, which stayed there until 2000: for 15 years Via Merulana hosted the capital's opera and ballet. For a band that built an entire project, PFM in Classic, on the music of Verdi and Rossini, playing where opera was staged for 15 years has a special flavor.

After the Opera, the Comune di Roma took over, entrusting the direction to Gigi Proietti until 2007. This was followed by the management of Maurizio Costanzo until 2010 and that of Stage Entertainment Italia until 2012. Since September 2012 the artistic direction has been in the hands of Alessandro Longobardi, who turned the theater into a cultural hub. In these years the Brancaccio has become one of the Roman halls for singer-songwriter concerts: in the same season, among others, Mario Biondi and Francesco Renga.

Who has played PFM Premiata Forneria Marconi, On the Road Again at Teatro Brancaccio, February 6, 2027

Some of the biggest names in music and entertainment have passed through the Brancaccio stage. The theater remembers several: Totò, Anna Magnani, Aldo Fabrizi and Gigi Proietti among the actors, and Fabrizio De André, Louis Armstrong and Jimi Hendrix among the musicians.

For PFM, two of these names weigh more than the others. Fabrizio De André is the singer-songwriter with whom the band was born, in the studio in 1970, and with whom it wrote one of the most important pages of live Italian rock, in 1978 and 1979. The concert's subtitle, with La buona novella, brings him back, ideally, onto the Brancaccio stage, beside the musicians who played with him. Jimi Hendrix is the symbol of the rock of the years when PFM was taking its first steps and looking to the United Kingdom and America.

Roberto Vecchioni too, with whom PFM won Sanremo in 2011 playing Chiamami ancora amore, has had his evening at the Brancaccio. On February 6, 2027 it is the turn of Franz Di Cioccio, Patrick Djivas, Lucio Fabbri and the new lineup: more than 50 years of history in a single evening, on a stage that has seen the best of 20th-century music pass through.

Accessibility at Teatro Brancaccio

Teatro Brancaccio declares that it has no architectural barriers for access to the orchestra level: there is a ramp, an area reserved for wheelchairs and an accessible restroom on the ground floor, reachable from the foyer.

Wheelchairs and reduced mobility

The theater provides, while available, orchestra seats for people in wheelchairs and with walking difficulties. The balconies cannot be reached in a wheelchair, because there are no elevators. Seats are booked by writing to the box office with the appropriate form and the required documentation.

Visual and hearing disabilities

For spectators with visual and hearing disabilities, the theater reserves, by booking, orchestra seats while they last. If you have a service dog, you can ask the box office to enter the hall with the animal. For a rock concert with two drum kits, it is worth considering the volume.

Where to eat before the concert

Around the Brancaccio there are three options: the neighborhood bars and venues on Via Merulana, suited to a quick meal. The multiethnic Esquilino around Piazza Vittorio, with cuisines of many countries and modest prices. And the Monti district, a quarter of an hour on foot away, with trattorias, osterias and wine bars.

Saturday night

On Saturday night the places in Monti are full. If you want to have dinner before the concert, you have to book and move it up to around 19:00, to be at the theater well in advance.

After the concert

After 23:00 Monti is still lively. A drink to comment on the setlist, and maybe debate if Impressioni di settembre made the setlist, is the best way to end the evening.

February in Rome: a weekend of music

At the beginning of February Roman theaters are in the middle of the season, and a Saturday night concert is the occasion for a weekend in the city.

The weather

February evenings are cold and often damp: a coat and an umbrella are essential, and the umbrella has to be left at the theater's coat check.

The week on Via Merulana

In the same week the Brancaccio hosts Filippo Caccamo on Thursday the 4th, Stefania Andreoli on Friday the 5th and, on Sunday, February 7, the show for kids by Roby, Jenny and Lorenzist. The full program is on the official website of Teatro Brancaccio.

Frequently asked questions about PFM at the Brancaccio

When does PFM play in Rome in 2027?

PFM, Premiata Forneria Marconi, plays at Teatro Brancaccio in Rome, at Via Merulana 244, on Saturday, February 6, 2027 at 21:00, with the concert On the Road Again, subtitled Cook and La buona novella. It is a single date in the theater's 2026/2027 season.

How much do PFM tickets cost at the Brancaccio?

PFM tickets at Teatro Brancaccio cost from 32 to 69 euros: Poltronissima A 69 euros, B 55 euros, Poltrona A and B and first balcony A 48 euros, first balcony B 38 euros, second balcony 32 euros. They are bought on the theater's website or at the box office.

Who plays in PFM at the Brancaccio?

At the Brancaccio PFM fields Franz Di Cioccio on vocals and drums, Patrick Djivas on bass, Lucio Fabbri on violin, Alessandro Scaglione on keyboards, Marco Sfogli on guitar, Eugenio Mori on second drums and special guest Luca Zabbini on keyboards, guitar and vocals.

What does PFM play in On the Road Again?

PFM's On the Road Again concert is subtitled Cook and La buona novella. Cook is the band's first live album, recorded in the United States in 1974, and La buona novella is De André's 1970 album. The setlist is not published and, according to the theater, every concert offers variations.

What is PFM?

PFM, Premiata Forneria Marconi, is a progressive rock band born in Milan in 1971 from Quelli. It was the only Italian progressive band of the 1970s to enter the American charts, and is famous for Impressioni di settembre and for the 1978 and 1979 tour with Fabrizio De André.

How do I get to Teatro Brancaccio?

Teatro Brancaccio, at Via Merulana 244, is reached by metro line A, Vittorio Emanuele stop, a few minutes on foot. Lines 16, 75, 714, 717 and C3 run along Via Merulana. At the Labicana/Merulana stop the night line N10 also runs, useful for the return.

Can you take photos during the concert?

At Teatro Brancaccio you cannot take photos or film during the concert, not even with a cell phone. Photos are taken outside, in front of the facade on Via Merulana, or in the foyer before the start.

The final advice on PFM at the Brancaccio

One night only, a Saturday in February, to hear in a large Roman theater the band that set out from an evening in Rome, in December 1972, to conquer London and America. My advice is to choose the first balcony to see the whole lineup, to relisten to Cook and La buona novella in the days before, to accept the margin of surprise of a setlist that changes every night, and to bring a young musician along: 50 years of Italian progressive rock, played live, are worth more than any lesson.

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

Planning a trip to Rome? The English guides to visiting the city are on ItalyPlanner.com.