After winning the Eurovision Song Contest in May, Italy's Måneskin became that rarest of commodities: A young rock band with sex appeal and crossover hits.
The four members of the Italian rock band Måneskin grew up gigging around the Eternal City of Rome. But when they flew into L.A. for their first sold-out gig at the Roxy in early November, there was one local site of Saturnalian bad behavior they just had to visit.
But Måneskin is an anomaly in a rap- and pop-driven era: a guitar/bass/drums combo indebted to Queen and T. Rex that performs largely in Italian and whose breakout U.S. single was a cover of the Four Seasons’ oldies staple “Even its first scandal — a stray Eurovision camera angle capturing what looked like cocaine at its table, which the band denied having and the European Broadcasting Union cleared it of — seemed charmingly retro.
Mesh tops, low-cut leather pants and eyeliner for everyone — should TV sets near Sunset Strip hotel windows start getting nervous again? A resurgent COVID-19 had them fearing the worst as they prepared for a packed Roxy crowd. The band would have had to cancel if everyone hadn’t tested negative, which they did. “It wasn’t too bad. It’s getting better,” Torchio said, still a little wobbly from the show.