It was not just a night for younger fans. Achille Lauro captivated an audience spanning multiple generations at Red Valley Festival 2026, turning the opening night of the Olbia event into one of the most eagerly awaited moments of this year's edition.

The Rome-born singer-songwriter took to the stage at the Olbia Arena at around 1:00 am, in the early hours of 14 August, bringing the festival's first day to a close with a performance lasting more than an hour and a half.

And alongside the teenagers and young adults in the crowd were plenty of older fans ready to sing along to his biggest hits.

Over 90 minutes of music and spectacle

Achille Lauro built his set around the different stages of his career, alternating his most recent songs with the tracks that have made him one of the most recognisable figures in Italian music.

His entrance was accompanied by giant screens, cinematic visuals and flames erupting across the stage, with his band performing behind him.

The setlist included Amor, Bam Bam Twist, Dannata San Francisco, 1969, Senza una stupida storia, Perdutamente, Me ne frego, Amore disperato and, of course, Rolls Royce.

The latter took the audience back to Sanremo 2019, the moment that helped transform the singer's career for good.

“Olbia, you are beautiful”

Lauro's connection with the audience was one of the defining elements of the show.

From the stage, he greeted the city with “Olbia, you are beautiful”, as thousands of fans sang along to songs from very different periods of his musical career.

And that was perhaps the most interesting aspect of the evening: his audience no longer seems to belong to any single generation.

Waiting to see him were teenagers, young adults and plenty of mothers and aunts who, as La Nuova Sardegna jokingly observed, may not have been dragged to the festival by their daughters and nieces quite as reluctantly as one might imagine.

The opening night of Red Valley

Before Achille Lauro took the stage, several other major names from the Italian music scene had performed throughout the evening.

Chiello, Clara, Ditonellapiaga and Bresh helped build towards the night's closing act, alongside the other artists scheduled to perform on the festival's opening day.

There was also a surprise appearance from Sangiovanni, who joined one of the performances for a duet during the evening.

Red Valley 2026 continues until 15 August with a line-up spanning rap, pop and trap, featuring artists including Annalisa, Ernia, Sayf and Sfera Ebbasta.

But the opening night has already found its star.

For more than 90 minutes, Achille Lauro made the Olbia Arena his own, proving that singing along to his music is no longer something that belongs to any one generation.