A sold out show in Perth’s Amplifier Bar kick started Lacuna Coil’s first ever headline tour of Australia in style and it seemed even the weather chimed in to welcome Italy’s finest with an unseasonably hot day after a few weeks of cold and rain.
Opening the show was local Perth progressive band Nucleust who have been enjoying some big successes this year. Tonight despite suffering from technical issues with the sound through the set (which became the theme for the night on the other bands too I might add), the 4 piece plowed their way through a quick and ferocious set which garnered positive praise from the already packed crowd.
Post goth rockers Deadspace followed next and showed why they have started making a name for themselves in the Australian music scene with a doom like quality to their style which uncannily reminds me a little of Wednesday 13. Particularly the vocalist who even looks and moves around in similar fashion. It was certainly a heavy start to the show with what came next!
If the Perth crowd wasn’t eager enough to see the band who last visited as part of the ‘Gigantour’ with Megadeth in 2007; it was also a night of firsts with the band playing a number of tracks from their attest album ‘Delirium’ for the very first time anywhere in the world. Indeed they opened with the closing track from that album ‘Ultima Ratio’ and for best part of the next two hours the crowd was in their hands.
Lacuna Coil 2016 is of course a different beast from when we last saw them on our shores, there is of course the core trio of vocalists Andrea Ferro, Cristina Scabia and bassist Marco Coti Zelati but the band lost guitarist Cristiano “Pizza” Migliore Cristiano ‘CriZ’ Mozzati after the recording of ‘Broken Crown Halo’ and second guitarist Marco “Maus” Biazzi earlier this year: making ‘Delirium’ the first album to be recorded without the trio. All we can say is that live with just the one guitar the band sounds impressive and the new material heavier and even more intense!
Tonight you feel that the band has won over the audience before they play a note and by the end of it you’ll be reeling that Cristina has never sounded more powerful and entrancing, or Andrea more menacing – screaming more than we’ve ever heard.
After the surprise opener to the set which gets the crowd bouncing with Metal abandon what strikes you immediately is the choreography, especially Andrea’s wide-eyed, theatrical gestures and Cristina’s energy, add to the mix their take on Asylum-themed costumes and a hearty dose of face paint and the show is not only sonically blistering it sizzles and simmers and boils, never failing to keep your attention. If you had any doubts – these guys ARE the masters of dynamics and ‘Spellbound’ from the ‘Shallow Life’ album kicks in without a break in momentum. We’re intoned to rock out and we do! We finally get our welcome before the stomping ‘Die and Rise’ from Broken Crown Halo as early technical problems rob us momentarily of guitars and backing track; “It’s good to be back in Perth after so long” Cristina tells the packed crowd; “Tonight we’ll play a lot of old songs and some of the new”.
After a few moments of down-time we’re back with crowd-favourite ‘Heaven’s a Lie’ and it takes little encouragement from the band to get the crowd singing along in unison. Then we’re quickly into another new song – the searing ‘Blood, Tears, Dust’ which features a dark growl from Andrea offset by a simply soaring vocal from Cristina, all across the fiery backdrop of a train-off-the-tracks bassline! It’s only the second outing for a song that sounds like it could be in the setlist for years.
After the fiery attack of ‘Ghost in the Mist’ which sees Scabias’ searching vocal offset the fire of Ferro’s growl Scabia is moved to tell us “This is the first show and we couldn’t ask for better” and indeed for a normally reserved Perth crowd she’s right – this is wild! Andrea starts a ‘European chant’ of “Ole! Ole! Ole! Lacuna Coil” in a nice moment of fun before ‘Victims’ (again from Broken Crown Halo) is dedicated to “everyone who tries to make this world a better place”. It’s a great song one of our favourites from the album.
As the sweat pours down the walls of The Amplifier the band seems to be only getting further into their impossible stride! The swirling soundwave of ‘Trip the Darkness’ rolls into what must be the highlight of the set for some – the trio of hard-hitters in ‘Kill the Light’; ‘Our Truth’; and ‘Swamped’. If we thought it couldn’t get better then another new track from Delirium gets its world premiere – ‘Downfall’ which judging by the crowd response there are more than a few in tonight who own the record! It’s followed by the Depeche Mode cover ‘Enjoy the Silence’ which almost raises the roof again!
The encore consisted of 3 songs including the title track of the new album complete with a cool, dark intro and the show closer “The House Of Shame” which ended a brilliant set from the veteran Italian rockers. If Cristina’s promise of returning sooner rather than later is any indication, we cannot wait for their return!
LACUNA COIL AUSTRALIAN TOUR 2016:
Wednesday, October 12: Amplifier Bar, Perth
Thursday, October 13: Max Watt’s, Melbourne Friday
October 14: The Metro Theatre, Sydney Saturday
October 15: Max Watt’s, Brisbane
Tickets and tour details can be found at Destroy All Lines.
PHOTO GALLERY
Photos by Linda Dunjey Photography
