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On stage: Lacuna Coil



- Lacuna Coil - Sep. 1999 - Bochum (D) -
- Lacuna Coil - Apr. 2000 - Hengelo (NL) -
- Lacuna Coil - Apr. 2000 - Vosselaar (B) -
- Theatre Of Tragedy & Lacuna Coil - Feb. 2001 - Bochum (D) -
- Dimmu Borgier, In Flames, Nevermore & Lacuna Coil - Apr. 2001 - Cologne (D) -
- Lacuna Coil & Moonspell - Dec. 2003 - Cologne (D) -
- Lacuna Coil, Dirty Little Rabbits & Dommin - Feb. 2010 - Bristol (GB) -


www.lacunacoil.it









- Lacuna Coil, Dirty Little Rabbits & Dommin -
- February 4th 2010 - Bristol (GB), O2 Academy -




I like Lacuna Coil (that's no secret), so when the chance came up to see them in my home town I purchased my tickets as soon as I could when they were on pre-sale. (Dragging your friends along is fun.) That was all back in October last year and finally yesterday was the day. Upon first buying the tickets I was throwing around the idea of going down really early (doors were at 7pm), for lunch, so we could camp outside and hopefully meet everyone.
Come the day however that didn't actually happen; I was all ready to go out by half 3, but I said I'd meet my mate at 5 and get the bus down with him; he lives 3 miles away from me.
When my mum came home from work she did the usual 'eat something before you go out routine', generally not a problem however I was so excited by now I'd completely lost my appetite so I spent precious time I could of used for walking slowly trying to ingest an egg sandwich.
So I was now late, much later than I'd originally wanted to be too; thankfully it wasn't raining and I made it to my mates house only 20 minutes late and we got on a bus not long after.
Finally we got into town and it was a short walk to the venue; I was quite relieved to find out the queue was still short and we began our hour long wait until doors.
During this time we were photographed holding flyers for Dommin, who personally I don't like, and I had a chat with my cousin who dresses up like a gothic pirate.
Oh I forgot to mention that we had to wait for my friends work colleague to come too, since I had her ticket as well. And talk about cutting it close within a minute of her turning up the doors opened.
I thought they'd search me consider the budges in my pockets from everything I was lugging around however they like to pick on people with bags, which of course as women my friends colleague had one and was stopped. My mate waited with her, however my mind was set on one thing - getting to the front! I had to run past some girls who were also heading for the barrier, but I did it, I got a decent place at the front. (Oh and my friends reappeared and stood behind/next to me so it worked out quite well.)
Dommin: Last.fm tells me that Dommin are Alt Gothic Rock, and their image tells me they like Morrissey and the 80s. I don't like Morrissey or the 80s and they sound like H.I.M. fans would lap them up. Okay, I just have preconceptions. For an opening act they were actually very good, normally you expect the opener to be passable at best. They pulled off a strong performance and the crowd got into them. One of their last songs was a cover of Cutting Crew - (I Just) Died In Your Arms, that was nice and enjoyable and the crowed joined in too.
Dirty Little Rabbits: This lot are a side project from Shawn of Slipknot fame. Quite an energetic one at that. Like all bands I go and see I do give them all a courtesy listen, if I haven't heard them before, I listened to Hello which does give quite a good overview of their style. Each band member has their own thing going on. Shawn is the drummer - playing the drums means no 'thing', he is busy playing drums. (He was pretty much in front of me, well the guitarist was mostly too.)
The guitarist was quite bendy and weird in the sort of way you'd do when taking the mick out of something, but ramped up I guess. The bassist was in a suit with a top hat. The keyboard player (Who needed 3 keyboards?!) was bald and topless, when they opened he jumped ridiculously high. And the lead singer was just flowing around the stage wearing not much. (Which is nice.) You've never seen an act like this before, I can assure you. I'm not really sure where to place them even, but they were defiantly fun and entertaining to watch. (And that is of course a really good thing.)
The crowd were defiantly into them and a lot of other people must of done some pre-gig listening too since there were some people singing along, which the band clearly were impressed by. I wouldn't necessarily watch them as a headline act, but if they played as support again I wouldn't complain.
Lacuna Coil: A band that hopefully needs no introduction.
Whilst they have changed there style over the past two albums their sound remains constant.
I'd love to complain about the amount of Shallow Life songs played, however this was the Shallow Life tour so I'd be an idiot to do so.
So out they finally came, the crowd erupting in anticipation and excitement. A long intro to survive is played as intro music. (I preferred their previous intro music to be honest.)
As ever Criz comes out first, followed shortly after by Maus and Cristiano then Andrea and Cristina. They've all got new outfits for this tour and a new drum kit, since I saw them at Download in 2009.
So starting off with Shallow Life songs is a good idea, they are much better crowd songs and they have increased vocal parts for Andrea.
Criz is the middle of the stage on a platform, Maus over right in front of me, Cristiano is over the far side mirroring his position and Cristina and Andrea are between either side of middle. (They all do like moving around - swapping places, well not Criz he'd probably be a bit upset, if you started to push him around while he was playing.)
You could tell already that they were on top form and despite the small size of the venue (comparatively - it's basically the best we have.) everyone was really into it and LC knew it.
As I like to sing along, if I know the words, I was in my element, which only got better when singing back to Cristina on several occasions through out the show. (You can't beat that!)
Each song has a different video projected on the screen at the back. Are stage drapes not cool any more? I know they're less distracting.
By the time they were playing Tightrope I didn't think it could get any better and the energy in the room was electric. (They have such a rich back catalogue it's a shame most of it won't get played live again.) Then they followed it up with 1.19(!) and not long after Heavens A Lie, which the crowd really loved and was a massive sing-along.
There was a break after Fragile, which I was though was a bit early for end of set/encore bit, however not long after Cristina came back out with her hair tied back and a dress on; she sung Wide Awake.
Just like on Shallow Life once again Wide Awake disrupted the flow for me. A short pause after and Andrea started to bring us back to full steam with To The Edge.
The Maze was quickly followed with one of my personal favorite songs: Swamped. I was so happy they played it and it was perfect too. (They didn't play it at Download choosing Heavens A Lie instead, that annoyed me.)
Enjoy The Silence was conducted as a sing along, seeing which area in front the stage was the loudest and to see if we were louder than the other crowds they have played to on this tour. (My throat says yes, but the venue size says no.)
Okay so now we had the encore break. Apparently we don't have anyone in Bristol that can both shout loud enough to start a chant and also come up with a decent one; "We Want More"... Rude and it also has the same amount of syllables as Lacuna Coil, shout that instead you idiots.
Anyway they came back out and played Not Enough followed by Spellbound which the crowd also liked. And like it's a tradition, they ended with Our Truth.

Set list:

Survive
Underdog
Closer
I'm Not Afraid
Fragments Of Faith
Tightrope
1.19
I Won't Tell You
Heavens A Lie
Fragile

Wide Awake
To The Edge
The Maze
Swamped
Enjoy The Silence

Not Enough
Spellbound
Our Truth


All in all it was a very strong set that engaged the audience with a strong blend of new songs topped off with a good helping of classics.
Okay, so we asked the nice people in the photo/security gap to pass us up the plectrums that Maus had thrown at us and my friends bag. (Opted not to grab the towel that Shawn threw at us.)
Now it was operation met the band. (I'd brought with me, along with a camera that had a battery which needed charging, a Sharpie and my copy of Comalies.)
Checked around by the merch stand hoping to see Dirty Little Rabbits, but only Dommin were around so we went outside to look for Lacuna Coil instead.
I later found out that the lead singer of Dirty Little Rabbits had cut her thumb quite badly and so they'd left. Anyway, we headed round to the side entrance where everyone else was gathering; I say everyone else, I mean like 20 people. It had started to rain by now, and to my displeasure I soon found out that sharpies barely work in rain.
Almost like the order they come on stage, they came out in. Oh, I didn't mention that Marco isn't on the tour, because he is at home recovering from a shoulder injury.
Anyway, we all swarmed around Criz and Maus, who just like everyone else, are great people that will spend the time to meet fans and talk to them. Quite a wait later Cristina came out followed by Cristiano. Of course everyone went for Cristina, I didn't since Cristiano had no queue and was right next to me. Cristiano had issues signing both my ticket and Comalies due to rain which sucked, when I managed to meet Cristina it was working well enough again though. (Cristina is so short! No wonder she wears heals all the time.)
And then we waited for Andrea, and then we waited and waited. We had no idea where he'd gone, but it was past midnight so I conceded and we left to get food and go home.
Looking back on my photos now I can safely say for my first time using that camera I took a lot of very blurred pictures, oh well at least I have a great memory to keep with me.



Scott
(guest writer)

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- Lacuna Coil, Moonspell & Passenger -
- Dec., 30th 2003 - Cologne (D), Live Music Hall -




Another package tour. This time the tour trail led Lacuna Coil, Moonspell, Passenger and Poisonblack to Cologne's Live Music Hall. I missed the opening act Poisonblack, but this time not through a traffic jam, I was still at Lichtblick - a bistro / restaurant nearby - coz even metal fans need to eat. The side-band of In Flames singer Anders Fridén presented this danceable metal groove to the gothic and metal heads. Their debut was released in late April and this was their first visit to European stages. The guys came to show that their mixture is live as good as on CD. Songs like In Reverse, In My Head and Just The Same gave a good idea what Passenger is about. Many of the fans at Live Music Hall haven't heard of them before it seemed, but they impressed some fans.
Then it was time for the Portuguese band Moonspell out to bring their latest album The Antidote on stage. Unfortunately I don't know the new album - just heard it once - and so I can't tell much about the new material. Singer Fernando Ribeiro and his mates had about 50 minutes on stage. Beside new stuff their presented Devilred and Darkness & Hope, a track from Sin / Pecado - sorry, can't remember which one - and Opium and Full Moon Madness of Irreligious. Actually the fans seemed to appreciate the old material more then the new one. Also I have to say that I saw the Portuguese band in a better shape before. I don't know what was missing, but beside the fans in the first rows it seemed that the spark couldn't flash over. A better mixture, a more homogenous mixture probably would have done better...
Then it was time for the Italian sextet! Their last album Comalies is in the stores for months and after touring the US for months they are now back to Europe. Singers Cristina Scabbia and Andrea Ferro caught the attention of the fans from the first note. Drummer Cristiano Mozzati and bassist Marco Coti Zelati laid the musical playground for guitarists Cristiano Migliore and Marco Biazzi. Due to a cold Cristina caught the band cut down their set to 50 minutes and presented a firework of their songs. The setlist mainly contained songs from Comalies and Un­leashed Memories like Cold Heri­tage, Tight Rope, Heaven's A Lie, When A Dead Man Walks, To Live Is To Hide and the Italian one Senza­fine. The band sounded as good as ever and the fans didn't recognized that Cristina had a cold. Fans sang along and shouted for certain tracks. The band sounded damn tight and it was a pleasure to see them on stage. I can just hope that they will return soon with a new album and do more shows. It's amazing to see this band growing. The long tour in the States made them even a better live act and hopefully next time they play longer!
For me and for many other metal fans, I guess, the Italian band was the reason to come to Live Music Hall a day before New Year's Eve... And so they wished everybody a happy and metallic new year!



Claudia Ehrhardt

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- Lacuna Coil - April, 22nd 2000 - Vosselaar (B), Biebob -




It's the 3rd time in one week that I come to Vosselaar, to the Biebob and it feels like home. Thanks Bob and thanks to your crew who make us feel welcome every time!
Lacuna Coil liveAfter the soundcheck I met the band and they told me that all shows been pretty good. Happy and still excited they looked forward the tonight's show. Again a local band opened for them and they brought a few fans with them. Most of the fans came to see Lacuna Coil and they came from Belgium, Holland and Germany. It was the same set list which incl. This Is My Dream as well as No Need To Explain. On stage they looked more self-confident and the headlining shows let them grow. Today the audience was the best on that tour so far and so the sympathetic Italians have to return! So they played My Wings a second time!
Lacuna Coil liveAn old saying says "Time is flying when you have fun" and everyone enjoyed the show. I guess that many looking forward to see them again, like I do. Another thing which makes this band special is that they hang out in the club before and after the show and talk with their fans.
Before I left Andrea told me that they'll record their 2nd full-length album this summer and it seems that they will record again at the Wood­house Studio. If they do record there, I'll visit them and do a studio report.... Hope to see my friends from Milano soon!



Claudia Ehrhardt

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- Lacuna Coil - April, 14th 2000 - Hengelo (NL), Monopool -




The Italian sextet kicked off the tour in Hengelo. Their first headlining tour! You might think it's too early, coz they just released 2 EPs and a full-length album.... But live they proofed on several times as an opening act that they can do it.Lacuna Coil live I can't say anything about the local openers, but I had the time to talk to Andrea and his pales before the show. Everybody was a little nervous, will the fans like the new outfit? Will they like the 70 min. long set? How will be the reaction when they play new songs? The second EP HALFLife is in the stores for about 3 weeks...
Later the band entered the stage in their new outfit and started with a medley of Trance Awake and Senzafine, their first Italian song. Lacuna Coil were booked for small venues and still there is the risk that are just a handful of people show up.Lacuna Coil live Luckily the Monopool was crowded and soon the fans danced, rocked and sing-a-long. The band presented themselves in a black & red outfit. Okay, they haven't played the tunes perfect, but the fans don't care! The set included songs from all release like My Wings, Honeymoon Suite and Hyperfast. Cristina in a long black dress with extraordinary make-up was the visual center. Everyone did a good job and after all those touring and the recording of HALFLife the band seemed to grow together. Guitarists Cristiano Migliore and Marco Biazzi became a perfect team and build with the rhythm section the playground for singers Andrea Ferro and Cristina Scabbia. After 9 songs the band left and returned for 3 more songs incl. Falling Again!
After the show the band was done, but happy... A little worried about the mistakes they made, but the fans loved the show and so they just take it as a challenge to get better... A good tour kick off and soon they are on the way to the U.K. Another challenge, coz the band haven't been there before... Exciting for the young Italians.



Claudia Ehrhardt

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- Lacuna Coil - Sepember, 28th 1999 - Bochum (D), Zeche -




On a Tuesday night I went to Bochum to see Lacuna Coil as support of Lacrimosa. I was just there to see and meet the very nice Italians. When the six-piece from Milano released a self-titled mini album last year it couldn't convince me in the beginning. I had to listen to it several times what I did during my holidays in Turkey. Soon I loved their music! Live the band of Andrea Ferro and female counter-part Cristina Scabbia needed a while to work it out. After touring with Moonspell, a line-up change and another tour with The Gathering the band found their own style and the live experience tighten the band which was obviouse when they played Wacken last year.
Lacuna Coil liveIn February 1999 the Milanese released their first full-length album In A Reverie and proofed everybody wrong that they are just a kind of copycat of The Gathering and Theatre Of Tragedy. Again they hit the road. First they supported Skyclad and afterwards they joined Grip Inc.! The different audiences are a challenge for the Milano-based band. Now they are on tour with Lacrimosa. To convince the gothic metal audience wasn't easy, but the death metal growls of Andrea mixed with the sweet and emotional voice of Cristina soon caught the interest.Lacuna Coil live The singing duo also shared the introduction of the songs which they partly did in German and English. The excellent light show set acents and create a special mood. A mixture of songs from the self-titled mini album and In A Reverie heated up the gothic fans. Song like My Wings, Veins Of Glass or No Need To Explain presented the band as a tight unit. Especially the lates version of Falling, later re-released as Falling Again, made the people move.Lacuna Coil live The drum machine in the beginning of this very emotinal song shows that Lacuna Coil have more to offer then emotions. Cristina Scabbia made them believe, she is very passionate and emotional. During the set Cristina jumped around, danced and enjoyed being on stage. It was fun to see and I guess they found a few new fans in the Lacrimosa following.
After the show I had the chance to talk to them for a few mo­ments. The band is very happy that they got the opportunity to tour with Lacrimosa. Afterwards they'll record a mini album. Right now they haven't decide, if they'll record again in Germany with producer Waldemar Sorychta or if they'll stay in Italy. But the Milanese would enjoy coming back to Germany. Touring again and again in Germany made them feeling home here. The Italians would like to play everywhere and perhaps the next album will help to bring them to every part of Europe. They would appreciate it and they let the fans feel that they are thankful for giving them the possibility to do so!



Claudia Ehrhardt

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