Italian glam rockers Måneskin brought their Loud Kids Tour to Los Angeles and it is safe to say, no one left disappointed. An hour before the show even started, there were about 500 people on the floor chanting “Måneskin! Måneskin! Måneskin!” The excitement was already bursting out of the Hollywood Palladium.
Måneskin – Danish for “moonlight” and pronounced “moh-nay-skin” – gained notoriety when they placed second on “X-Factor Italy,” and then won “Festival di Sanremo,” which then launched them to victory on “Eurovision.” They are HUGE in Italy and the rest of Europe, but now they are breaking out in the States.
The crowd went ballistic when the band took the stage. Måneskin kicked off the Los Angeles show with “Kool Kids” from their upcoming album, “Rush!” While not yet released, everyone already knew the words and sang along. In fact, three of the first five songs were new and not only did fans know them, I am confident “Rush!” is going to be a massive success.
Every song was a powerhouse of energy from the band. The only time front-man Damiano David stopped pacing the stage was to share some of the spotlight with the other band members – bassist Victoria De Angelis and guitarist Thomas Raggi. De Angelis and Raggi themselves rarely stood still, constantly switching sides of the stage, making direct eye contact with everyone they could. They were VERY fan friendly.
De Angelis has punchy bass lines that blast through, in contrast to her soft beauty. She would frequently go into the audience while playing, as did David.
Raggi had serious vibes and poses reminiscent of Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin; he even wore similar style clothing with dragons that reminded me of Page’s attire in the ‘70s.
Drummer Ethan Torchio sat high on his drum riser and every beat could be felt. This was, after all, a rock show you know, and they lived up to the tour title of Loud Kids.
The band includes songs with Italian inspiration and lyrics, which gives their show a unique experience that works well. The language barrier did not matter; if David urged the already jumping crowd to jump, they jumped higher. The band fed off the crowd’s energy and it made for an electrifying performance.
Every song sounded great – loud, punchy, melodic, sexual. Many of their songs have a sexual nature to them and their persona comes across as very sexual, which may have led to them being censored on the VMAs in August (or De Angelis’ chest-exposing outfit). But really, they’re all so seriously pretty.
As for the music, close to half of the songs performed were from their upcoming album, but they threw in a couple of covers. Many bands have covered The Stooges’ “I Wanna Be Your Dog,” but few have done so as well as Måneskin did on this night. Definitely the best cover of it I’ve heard to date, staying true to the “raw power” of the original.
The last song of the set was “Lividi Sui Gomiti,” in which they invited people from the audience to join them onstage. As mentioned, they’re very fan friendly, interacting with what looked like each and every person that was onstage during the song.
Their encore began with a beautifully melodic guitar solo (YES, a guitar solo in 2022) from Raggi. It was then topped off with “The Loneliest” and “I Wanna Be Your Slave” (played for the second time that night, because, why not?).
Not a single person in attendance wanted the show to end. Måneskin was nothing short of amazing.
