"The triumphant return to Rome of Maneskin – arguably the only rock stars of their generation and almost certainly the greatest Italian rock band of all time – coincided with a heat wave across southern Europe," writes Dan Brooks in the New York Times and continues .
On that Tuesday in July the temperature reached 41 degrees Celsius. By Thursday morning the club's huge management team were worried that tonight's sold-out show at the Stadio Olimpico would be delayed. When Maneskin finally took the stage around 9:30pm, the temperature was still sky high.
There was no opening act, probably because no rock band operating at this level is a decade away from Maneskin's age. Guitarist Thomas Raggi played the riff of "Don't Wanna Sleep", the lights came on and 60,000 Italians screamed.
Damiano David – the band's lead singer and, at 24, its oldest member – stormed out in black baggy trousers and a mesh top, his heavy forehead and hyper-symmetrical features making him look like some futuristic nomad who chasing a digital mammoth. Victoria De Angelis, the bassist, wore a mini dress made of strips of leather or possibly bungee cords, while Ethan Torchio played drums in a vest without a shirt.
