What happened to Maneskin? When we talk about the Roman band today, this is the most recurring question. And not because the three very young rebels of Italian music are forced to release a single a month or give daily interviews. But because they did so for two whole years from 2021 onwards, when they were elected as the new Messiah capable of saving the entire Italian record industry. But despite their apparent disappearance, Maneskin continue to work on new projects that will help keep the flag of the Italian rockwhich before them seemed to have been lowered.
2021 was the band’s golden yearwhich from the sidewalks of Rome (literally), after having passed for X-Factor, first conquered Sanremo and then Eurovision. The four have graced covers, appeared on the world’s biggest music shows. They have been taken under the wing of (real) rock gods, and have won award after award. THEall with the powerful acclaim of the audience. And there was no shortage the adoration of much of the press, both Italian and foreign. In the two years in which the band experienced success at a thousandmany have spoken of mere marketing operationwhich however led the young Romans to perform in front of hundreds of thousands of people, from South America to the USA, from Europe to Japan. Concerts always sold out and well attended.
Despite the criticism, despite the accusations of being just a “plastic project” they were able to conquer the world Olympus. Now they are a bit “tarnished”, but they are not even thirty years old and their target is not only teenagers, so there is material to get back to the top. They have been defined as a “social phenomenon” more than musical, because, this is the accusation of the detractors, more importance was given to the look than to the music. Symbol of progressivism, of fluidity and of transgressioneven if not first-hand, have always adhered to the canons of conformism. And perhaps this is the recipe for their undisputed success, which has made them so transversal, probably laying the foundations for a project capable of lasting.
That the Maneskin disappeared from the Italian radar while they were concluding the world tourof objective success, should not alarm fans. The perception is that something has changed in the fabnbase, but it does not necessarily have to be negative. Victoria this summer she performed alone as a DJ all over Europe and Damianfrontman and symbol of the band, has announced a project from soloist. Although there would be something to discuss about its new image. But that’s not the point. The band has not split up, that the project continues and the group is working on new projects. And even if, everything suggests otherwise, Makeskin are here and continue their journey.
I am, therefore, a plastic successas some would have us believe? Obviously not. Of course, the success story is never linear, it is made up of ups and downs: it is like the Dance of life. The post-Eurovision drunkenness has certainly passed and there are already those who regret the times when Maneskin were not famous, when they addressed a small niche audience. They say that their music was better before 2021, that they devoted themselves more to substance rather than form. But the numbers, for the moment, prove them right and that is what counts, beyond the romanticism, in success.
There have been bands that have exploded as quickly as Maneskin, going from nothing to everything in a handful of years.. An example is the Tokyo Hotelwhich after an extraordinary boom have slipped away into oblivion, almost like the One Direction. It cannot be said with certainty that the Maneskin will not suffer the same fate, these things depend on an infinite number of factors, first and foremost the fortuna. Looking to the present, a world tour sold out and a new project coming out certainly cannot be synonymous with failure. On the contrary, the exact opposite.
The band is solid. And (maybe) even giving themselves less to the press, which is often seen as the first step towards oblivion, can represent, on the contrary, a step towards the group’s maturity. And towards a new phase.