This weekend, legendary music producer Rick Rubin hosted an under-the-radar music event called Festival of the Sun in Tuscany, featuring James Blake, Win Butler and Régine Chassagne of Arcade Fire, Rhye, Beth Ditto and Italian rapper-pop. star Jovanotti.
Twitter co-founder and former CEO Jack Dorsey was also in attendance at the multidisciplinary Tuscan fest, where director Andrew Dominik introduced a screening of his Nick Cave documentary ‘This Much I Know to Be True’.
The event, billed as a celebration of the summer solstice, was held from June 21 to 22 in Casole d’Elsa, a medieval village in the Sienese countryside where Rubin bought a large farm in 2019. According to Italian press reports, the procedure began on Saturday afternoon. at the Collegiata di Santa Maria Assunta Church with mantras performed by Grammy-nominated Kirtan artist Krishna Das, known as the “rock star” of yoga. Next, Jovanotti – who is recovering from a thigh injury – took the stage, followed by James Blake and Beth Ditto with her indie rock band Gossip.
Sunday’s events included a Jack Dorsey speech titled “Tech and Freedom,” followed by performances by DJ Cosmo Gonik; London-based singer/cellist Lucinda Chua; Rhye, the one-man band of Canadian singer-songwriter Michael Milosh; Finnish model and musician Julia Johansen; and the Armenian composer and pianist Marie Awadis. In the festival’s grand finale, Win Butler reportedly sang Arcade Fire’s “My Body Is a Cage” while walking down the church aisle without a microphone.
Although only about 150 guests were allowed into the church, where most of the performances took place, admission to the city’s main stage was free to the public. Guests included Måneskin guitarist Thomas Raggi and drummer Ethan Torchio; Italian rapper Ghali; and A-list actor Riccardo Scamarcio and his partner Benedetta Porcaroli, who appears opposite Sydney Sweeney in Michael Mohan’s horror film “Immaculate.”
One of the most successful music producers of the past 30 years, Rubin has worked with an eclectic lineup of artists including Tom Petty, Run-DMC, Johnny Cash, Slayer, Adele, the Red Hot Chili Peppers and the Strokes. He recently produced indie artist Beabadoobee’s upcoming album “This Is How Tomorrow Moves.”
