‘He left an incredible mark': how a festival organiser's murder galvanised Venice's underground music scene

The Guardian

16-05-2025

As you enter the Centro Sociale Rivolta, a former confectionary factory in the industrial neighbourhood of Marghera in Venice that has been occupied by squatters for the last 30 years, a large banner spells out two words: 'Jack lives'. More than 2,000 people will see the banner this weekend when they arrive at Venezia Hardcore, a festival that began in a rehearsal room among friends and has become one of the most important counterculture events in Europe.
This year's event will feature Jivebomb's furious hardcore from the US, Violent Magic Orchestra's techno black metal from Japan, and Italian bands such as cult screamo outfit La Quiete, political street punk four-piece Klasse Kriminale and local heroes Confine. But the star of the festival will stand out due to his absence: 2025 will be the first edition of Venezia Hardcore without Giacomo 'Jack' Gobbato, a musician and activist who was stabbed to death in September by a robber who had attacked a woman Gobbato was trying to defend.
Gobbato, 26 at the time of his death, was part of the Venezia Hardcore crew, but also an activist, linked to Rivolta, another occupied space in the centre of Mestre, Venice. His death shocked the city. The following week, on 28 September, more than 10,000 people took to the streets of Mestre to pay homage to him. Posters by Zerocalcare, a beloved Italian cartoonist with close ties to social movements, hung on every corner as tribute. Noisy punk songs blasted from speakers while his friends waved giant banners of Gobbato stage-diving.
The march was motivated by the desire to show another face of a city that is increasingly linked with robberies, violent assaults and a growing drug problem. With more than 50 deaths in the last eight years, Venice is one of the Italian cities with the highest number of fatalities from heroin overdoses in recent years, alongside Rome.
The city's current administration had mostly tried to counteract this with heavier policing, asking the government for the intervention of the army and only returning to invest in social services a couple of years ago.
'It's sad to know you were right, when the consequences hit you like this,' says Sebastiano Bergamaschi, 26, who was with his friend Gobbato the night he was killed. The attacker stabbed both of them. Bergamaschi survived with injuries to his legs, Gobbato died during the night.
As an activist, Bergamaschi has dedicated himself to rebuilding the disappearing social fabric of Venice. Gobbato was an important part of that effort, he says. 'Music, activism, tattoos, the environment: Jack had many families,' Bergamaschi observes. 'And he always had the ability to unite them. He left an incredible mark on the festival and with us he wanted to share a dream, a project, a way of practising it.'
Since Gobbato's death, other initiatives have been formed. The emotional impact of the march brought many people closer to the young activists. Giorgia Gilli, 34, became part of the group of activists in October, taking part in night outings to deliver blankets and hot drinks to people sleeping on the streets during the winter. 'It would have been impossible for me to go home and pretend nothing had happened,' she reflects. 'It was a necessity.'
As a passionate music lover, she is now part of Rec Out, a project started by Gobbato himself: a low-cost professional recording studio open to anyone, where dozens of rap, trap, punk and metal musicians have already passed through. The space, inside the squat, also offers a first stage to young artists and the team creates video interviews with guests, to create an open community among musicians and fans.
Filippo Lunian, 29, who knew Gobbato since high school, realised a number of musical initiatives with him. 'You feel the need to do it,' Lunian says. 'To be there, to represent an alternative to how the everyday world is.' Despite moments of discouragement, Gobbato's friends have continued to propose ideas for months. 'The best thing we can do is give our contribution,' Sebastiano adds. 'You are doing it to change the life of the people around you.'
'United we win,' the festival crew wrote in a post dedicated to Gobbato. Gilli offers the perfect metaphor: 'It's like a moshpit: if you fall, I'll help you get up. I'll lift you up in stage diving and I'll pick you up if you're down. I'm always there, we're all in this together. That's what it means to have a community that supports you.'
The festival crew thinks the same. 'I met him because I noticed this guy at our concerts who always jumped off the stage,' remembers Samall Ali, musician and co-founder of the festival. 'We bonded a lot, he was really full of life.' After Gobbato's murder, there was no doubt that he had to play a role in the next edition of the festival. 'I keep thinking: 'What role do I want to play in this story? What do we do know?' I think there is a lot to do. And we will do our part. Jack lit a fuse, in many of us, too. We'll do the festival for him.'
Venezia Hardcore runs from 16-17 May