Article by Adriana Panico (Rome) | Photo by Andrea Ripamonti (Milan)
At the Palazzo dello Sport, EUR area, in the shadow of the Colosseum which in this neighborhood is Quadrato, in the year of the Jubilee, in Rome there is great and very orderly anticipation for the second evening of the world tour of Damiano David. The beautiful October storm that is gently advancing has brought a day with bright rays of sunshine and a translucent blue sky bordering on dazzling. Someone went to the seaside, someone else, instead, to pond to reach the temple of music made into a palace and attend the live performance of the already well-known singer of Maneskin.
The collective hair, clearly and predominantly pink, local and international, is preparing for the concert of this 26 year old boy who came from abroad – he now lives in Los Angeles – to present his solo project, Funny Little Fears. An intimate work full of fears, dreams, anxieties, discussions, some certainties and second lives. This evening (surprise!) Damiano has a band supporting him. Is called Living room tigersand they are friends of his, as he will reveal later. They too participated in that talent show and offer five songs with a very energetic rock sound with a nod to dub to entertain the audience for the 45 minutes remaining from the start of the show.
9.00 pm: the stage lights up, the on stage lights draw attention for a few seconds, a “hello, Rome” brings tonight's King on stage. There is an immediate roar when Damiano reveals himself in a finely crafted black haute couture dress. A gentle step moves rigorously tailored trousers and supports a shirt that leaves the back exposed (he will show it several times); the face of someone who can do everything in life (in fact he is a testimonial, model, singer, dancer and half-actor) hints at the sly and shy smile of someone who knows what he's doing; that unmistakable timbre, deep and scratched, modulates a unique voice that sometimes expresses quite a few things with “Roman” matrix bravado, even tonight in some passages, a sort of stylistic code that makes it recognizable and immediately “ours”, not only geographically speaking.
The live starts with Born With a Broken Heart. The audience explodes as this open-hearted three-act performance begins, without catwalks, sets or special effects, which he will illustrate himself. Only the band, some backing vocalists and a sign with his name in the background accompany this Damiano version of a poet of and for himself. And then, tell us, oh Divo, about David-e Damiano, how you go from singing in the street, to becoming the frontman of one of the most incredible bands ever to emerge from a talent show (Maneskin), already winner of the Sanremo Festival and Eurovision, to questioning everything, going through the moonless night to be reborn in a solo version brighter and more resplendent than ever. Let's get to the documents.
Act I: a catalog of singles and covers that tell of life with the band, the one in which “everything was gigantic and very fast” until something broke. An energetic lash played and unleashed goes from Born With a Broken Heart to Nothing Breaks Like a Heart by Mark Ronson, passing through The First Time, Voices And Cinnamon (in collaboration with Albert Hammond Jr -The Strokes so to speak), Mysterious Girlthe cover of Locked out of Heaven of the beloved Bruno Mars and his latest single Talk to Me (in collaboration with Nile Rodgers and Tyla already, the Grammy winners). The lights go out, he goes out to change his trousers which are now white, he returns to complete the change of clothes on stage. In this intimate backstage atmosphere, an allegory of his staff making ofhe puts on a very fine and light white shirt explaining that at a certain point something broke inside him, so he took a break from the band and began the journey towards a “second life”, perhaps “perfect” in his own way. The reflection pulsates in the calm and songwriting rhythm of Act II: Perfect Life, Sick of Myself, The Bruise And Tangerines.
During the performance Damiano appears concentrated, dry. Less rock star, more pop star singer-songwriter. However, and completely, it “stars” from any angle you look at it. The crowd, a little lukewarm in their movements, follows him with their cell phones lined up, ready to immortalize the star whatever he does or to surround him with a sea of torches to the tune of the most popular songs. The ferry of this journey without Charon arrives at a new change of clothes. Act III: awareness has occurred, fears have become confetti on rebirth, with Zombie Lady and Tango, we go back to dancing, now with more flourish and more liveliness, a bit like we did in the clubs of the 50s or 60s. With lightness. We arrive at a milestone of the second life, love personified, with Marswith an experimental rock sound or a bit of The Doors, approaching the end of the evening which ends with the encore of two songs and a standing ovation.
We gather the wonder and go home like him who is already there for one evening, or rather two. Damiano knows how to be on stage and wants to be there, it's clear. He's not just an extraordinarily talented singer who never makes you miss a music streaming platform, he's right at home doing everything he did in an hour and a half live. Damiano is a philosophy, a language, an aesthetic, a manifesto. One who interprets and gives things – from music, to fashion, to politics, what those who have a public exposure can do – his mark, changing them and making them memorable. The imprint of those who did not demolish suffering and fear but prevented them from demolishing fun things by giving them a second life understood as a kaleidoscope of stories, a cauldron of opportunities. If “wait is the infinitive of the verb to love” we are already waiting for the next tour perhaps Next Summer.
DAMIANO DAVID – The setlist of the concert in ROME
Born With a Broken Heart
The First Time
Mysterious Girl
Voices
Cinnamon
Locked Out of Heaven (Bruno Mars cover)
Talk to Me
Nothing Breaks Like a Heart (cover by Mark Ronson)
Perfect Life
Sick Of Myself
The Bruise
Tangerines
Zombie Lady
Tango
Angel
Over
Mars
ENCORE
The First Time
Naked / Solitude (No One Understands Me)
Adriana Panico.
Daughter of a mermaid mother and a volcano father, adopted by various deities and griots. Made of seafood, snacks and liquorice wheels. Unfamiliar with numbers, capable of counting in letters and notes. Champion of beauty and crescents above the faces turned upwards, the eye winked at philanthropy, education and other institutional affairs. If she could, she would be Kate Moss' best friend. Or her.
Daniel D`Amico for SANREMO.FM
