Damiano David is struggling. “Now is the hardest part of the show when I have to talk,” the Maneskin frontman turned solo star sighs. “I sound like fucking Daffy Duck”. David might have a touch of the sniffles, but aside from his repeated mentions, you wouldn’t know: the impressive vocals that helped propel his band from Eurovision curiosities to a full-on stadium-selling global phenomenon are still holding up just fine.
In fact, these more off the cuff moments are a helpful reset in cutting through the slightly odd framing of it all. When the vocalist continues into his following speech, it’s to deliver a monologue about losing and finding himself, all whilst inexplicably changing his top on stage from a clothes rail that’s been purposefully wheeled on for the occasion. “This record made me understand what was wrong, my life was perfect but it was someone else’s idea of perfection,” he declares whilst dramatically putting the vest he’d previously disrobed with a flourish back on. The crowd’s idea of perfection will clearly have to stay clothed for the next few songs at least.
