A desk filled with cables, drum machines, and a bottle of Campari was all Italian disco duo Mind Enterprises needed to transport the crowd at Chicago’s Thalia Hall to a Sicilian summer night of carefree dancing. Touring behind their latest album, Negroni Love, Mind Enterprises returned to Chicago after quite an eventful year in the United States, including a performance at Coachella. Their infectious disco had the crowd moving and singing along to the group’s simple lyrics. Making a basic table setup with a drum pad look like the coolest thing in the world seems like a difficult task, but the duo somehow pulled it off.
Consisting of vocalist Andrea Tirone and Roberto Conigliaro, Mind Enterprises blends Italian disco with an impressive range of synthesizer sounds.
Long after the genre’s heyday, the group has embraced its signature sound while expanding on it with more adventurous musical ideas. Negroni Love perfectly captures the uniqueness of Italian disco while incorporating elements of synth music reminiscent of Kraftwerk and Depeche Mode.
The duo’s aesthetic, including TikTok videos of them performing inside their own home, feels rather foreign to my American eyes. Their videos have even become fodder for the internet meme machine, but the more I got into their music, the more unfair that seemed.
After seeing Mind Enterprises live, I felt grateful that American audiences could experience this amazing and entertaining side of Italian music.
Opening with “Discough,” the duo immediately gave fans a catchy melody that made standing still impossible. The party only gained momentum with tracks like “Da Sola” and “Idol.” The duo’s relatively still presence onstage was offset by frantic projections on the screen behind them, often featuring clips from their music videos. Conigliaro’s colorful polo and short shorts, paired with Tirone’s clean gray suit, made for an iconic look that perfectly captured the Italian disco aesthetic. The Negroni Love-heavy setlist gave the audience plenty to dance to, including “Misty Jungle,” “Tacchini,” and “Burn It!” Their EP Panorama also got some love, with “Ballare” and “Monogamy” making appearances.
I’ve rarely encountered disco as infectious as Mind Enterprises’ music. Even though I’m not the biggest fan of the genre, I can’t get enough of this duo, especially their album Negroni Love. I believe it’s one of the best albums of the year, and seeing them at Thalia Hall only reinforced how electric something this simple can be. Their aesthetic initially looked silly to me, but it proved to be their greatest asset.
Maybe my American ass cannot comprehend the true nature of Italian disco, but I saw two men commanding an audience with complete confidence and minimal equipment.
During “Another World,” Tirone poured drinks into audience members’ cups. Then, during the encore, he started smoking while performing the closing song, “Americano.” All the while, Conigliaro simply banged away on a drum pad, looking like the coolest guy in the room. Mind Enterprises is a party, and they made sure Chicago knew it.
All photography by Oscar De Leon
