No gimmicks or gizmos, Lacuna Coil‘s set relies on their music talents to entertain the crowd – and the crowd aren’t left wanting. The dual vocals of Cristina and Andrea combine and intertwine their vocals throughout the set, representing the melody and ferocity gothic metallers Lacuna Coil are known for, while Marco (Bass), Daniele (Guitar) and Richard (Drums) provide the crushing riffs and powerful drum beats to back them.
This was the last night of the UK section of their 38 date Europe and UK tour, supported by American groovy nu-metallers Nonpoint, with one night left in Lille to come, following South and North American tours of the new album Sleepless Empire, released back in February. While the crowd tonight were in more of a listening than moshing mood, not that there was much room to mosh in the packed, sold-out venue, equally there were relatively few phones in the air recording every moment, instead the air was filled with horns being thrown and lots of hair swirling from headbanging, especially at the front.
The setlist shows off the new album but also comprises highlights from their three decade career, a testement to their longevity. Opening with two tracks from the previous album Black Anima, ‘Layers of Time’ and ‘Reckless’, before laying into the first track of the night from the new album, ‘Hosting The Shadow‘. Cristina thanks Lamb of Gods Randy Blythe for his part in the creation of the song before they launch in with Andrea screams more than delivering, showing off the heavier direction the band have gone for this album while Cristina contrasts with her sirenesque voice.
Fan favourite, ‘Heavens a Lie‘, from their 3rd album Comalies is the oldest track on the set, with spots for ‘Spellbound’ from Shallow Life and a couple of tracks from Delirium before culminating the main part of their set with ‘Nothing Stands In Our Way’ from Broken Crown Halo to chants of the lyrics “We fear nothing!”. Between songs, Cristina describes the metal scene as family, being there when needed most, and calls out for folks to look after each other, epitomised when one poor crowdgoer collapsed but within seconds the crowd had alerted security and gotten them taken care of, and at one point bassist Marco distracts Cristina mid sentence by leaning in front of her to heart sign at the crowd
Resuming after the encore with ‘The Siege’ and ‘I Wish You Were Dead’, two of the stand out tracks from the new album before harking back to Comalies again for ‘Swamped’ and closing out with ‘Never Dawn’, the final track on Sleepless Empire.
You can read LOUD WOMEN’s review of Sleepless Empire here and follow Lacuna Coil on their Instagram or Facebook.