Reviewed on Friday October 14 (photo by Ashley Mar)
Donning white clothes and straitjackets smeared with fake blood, the delirium of Lacuna Coil takes hold of the Metro with an explosive boom of goth techno and metal romance.
Musically, Lacuna Coil are good. Really good. Singer Cristina Scabbia has the most phenomenal voice; a powerful tone and unwavering pitch, sustaining high notes with ease while still rocking out like a badass. Her performance bewitches and captivates, leaving no question as to why so many fans tonight audibly remark on how hot she is – she’s like a siren leading unwitting victims to their doom.
Without Scabbia, the absence of the band’s full lineup of musicians would be incredibly obvious – so much of what makes Lacuna Coil’s music great is lost with the use of backing tracks for both guitar and vocal harmonies. Still, it isn’t enough to make the performance unenjoyable; in fact, the sheer love Lacuna Coil convey to the crowd makes this an overwhelmingly powerful show.
Blasting out older songs like ‘Swamped’ and ‘Our Truth’, coupled with new material like ‘Blood, Tears, Dust’ and ‘Nothing Stands In Our Way’, Lacuna Coil are not to be taken lightly – they delight in what they do and the sensuality they draw from their music is so openly expressed, you can overlook the monotony of their movements and the basic stage set-up – no gimmicks, no games, just raw emotion and true passion.
The traditional Euro chant taught to the audience earlier in the show is used to pump up an encore, as Lacuna Coil re-emerge to close a stellar set with three more songs, solidifying a sincere relationship with the audience in a show that was never about being flashy or fake – just music, madness and love.
