Lacuna Coil, a band from Milan, Italy, made the trek across the planet to arrive at Adelaide's dearly loved live music venue, The Governor Hindmarsh hotel, known simply to locals as The Gov. Supported by Future Static, a band from the next capital city over; metal featuring female singers is truly alive and well.
Attending Lacuna Coil, to me, completed the "holy trinity" of the female fronted bands I listened to while developing my world view - and now I've seen them all live - Epica, Within Temptation, and at last Lacuna Coil, which was probably my first obsession in the genre along with other bands that I will not name now.
Firstly, to the opener, Future Static - thank you for putting on an incredible warm up set that was not met with anaemic clapping. Future Static has toured nationally on its own - so the band has some following, and it shows. I was so impressed I purchased a T-Shirt.
Then the stage was cleared, and Lacuna Coil emerged to a riot of cheers. For the Sleepless Empire tour, a steady set list packing in work from numerous albums was exactly what I expected.
Opening with the explosive Layers of Time, moving straight into Reckless, and then Hosting the Shadow was a beautifully intense and brutal introduction to the sound of a band that has matured, grown heavier, and more articulate as time has gone on.
Before I learnt of the tour coming to my local area, I hadn't listened to a new Lacuna Coil album since Comalies. I loved the band's first three records, so - I had twenty years of catching up to do. I've spent the last three months thoroughly impressed by their new catalogue of tricks, and Sleepless Empire is full of head banging tracks.
Lacuna Coil propose something unique in metal. Every song is a duet, a constant pendulum between beautiful ethereal vocals of Christina's lung and the death grows, and baritone male vocals powerfully delivered by Andrea.
Last night, they both possessed incredible stage presence and audience engagement, and for music that lyrically embodies introspection, emotional conflict, frustration at the structure of society, they were grinning as they looked back at a sea of swaying bodies shouting their songs straight back at them.
The show was loud, and from my spot about 2-3 rows back from the barrier, I could hear them twice. Once through their natural voice, and a second time through the loudspeakers. The band clearly plays a schedule with this set list.
A din between two songs saw the crowd shouting adoration and love, before the band, with slight panic in their eyes, wanting to engage, but being forced into an intro of In Nomine Patris - "we fucking love you", followed by the intro to the song starting with a monologue beginning with the words, "I repent", was a strange transition.
It was clearly scripted, and with backing tracks adding to the depth - necessary, but a bit more time for a more organic "chat" with the audience would've been lovely. We are selfish for the time of those we love, after all.
Lacuna Coil are an incredibly professional outfit, and they have worked incredibly hard for almost thirty years to get to where they are now. Playing a four song encore (as per their standard set list) - this was the first time it felt like actual work to get the group to come back out to stage.
All the same, it was a great show, delivered well, and a quality level that mirrored the professional production on the record itself. Outstanding.