Lacuna Coil
House of Blues – Las Vegas
24th July 2009-09-13

 

I first saw Lacuna Coil live when the Gigantour hit Australia a couple of years ago. They had the early slot and only played to a half full house, but put on a great set. Its a few years later and we’re in Las Vegas when their show hits town and whilst I’m not particularly enamoured of any of the support acts (Killing Hannah would have to be the best of the bunch) the House of Blues inside the Mandalay Bay Resort is a great venue. Acoustically sound, a good PA and a great bar.

Lacuna Coil is a bit of an anomaly for me as far as bands go, not my normal cup of tea, but they have something about them. Live they are a good act, though the night is largely ruined for me as Christina’s vocals are way too low in the mix and in some songs almost unintelligible or she’s completely swamped. I keep thinking the sound man will fix it but he never does.

The crowd were pretty enthusiastic all the same, and the venue is packed (well the expensive tickets were $21.00 and you got four bands). Attendees were a mixed bunch, not just Goths, metalheads and Italians on holiday, a good mix of young and old.

The show itself was a little disappointing. It was good but not exceptional and I guess that largely came down to the mix. The set contained a lot from the new CD (which I’d only heard a few times) but sometimes when you are unfamiliar with an album something really grabs you live. Tonight nothing really stood out for me except for the song ‘I Won’t Tell You’ which I hastily scribbled down. It sounded great live and it’s a pretty energetic number! Whilst the new stuff was all pretty good, nothing from the new CD really got the crowd fired like the older songs did.

There were the expected hits; my favourite ‘Heaven’s A Lie’ and ‘Enjoy the Silence’ really got the crowd going. The band was good live; there’s certainly plenty of energy, though at times they were a little too choreographed for my liking. I don’t think too many people would have gone away disappointed tonight, but then again I don’t think too many people who weren’t already converts would have been pushed over the edge either.

As far as the album ‘Shallow Life’ goes it’s certainly a ‘grower’ and well worth the purchase. Maybe next time I see them I’ll get a better mix and appreciate the new songs a little more.

Mark