A cold winter’s eve in London saw Lacuna Coil arrive at Camden’s own Koko Theatre for a highly anticipated, sold out show on Friday night. The Goth metal veterans are currently touring in support of their latest release, and first self-produced album, ‘Delirium,‘ which is garnering lots of well deserved praise. With their eighth studio album now under their belts, and with their last show in London dating back almost two years to the day, Lacuna Coil came to Camden, saw what was needed, and conquered everyone with an impeccable performance. Reminding us why these Goth legends are Goth royalty and have been so for over two decades.
Opening the show were support act and fellow Italian metal heads, Genus Ordinis Dei, who took their chance with a strong opening that won the audience over. G.O.D played a fully fueled, energetic and tight set, topped off with a generous sense of gratitude for the opportunity to play on this card, which was felt throughout the room earning them some well-deserved additional plaudits.
Denmark’s latest metal export, the incredible Forever Still then took to the stage, pulling no punches with their unapologetic, in your face, unrelenting, DIY brand of raw metal. Ferociously moving through track after track from their latest release, ‘Tied Down’, the band used every inch of the stage. Vocalist Maja Shining soared and swooned on tracks like “Scars”, “Once Upon a Nightmare” and “Miss Madness” as the music left the audience wanting more and announcing these Danes as serious contenders to look out for in the coming years.
Twenty years in the game, Lacuna Coil showed they have lost none of their edge. With the crowd chanting their name before house lights had even dimmed, when the band arrived, the room erupted. Storming the stage to one of their later pieces “Ultima Ratio”, the band, dressed in straight jacket jumpsuits and crawling around eerily beckoned the crowd into the madness of their on stage sanatorium. Vocalist and front woman Cristina Scabbia, frantically shone a large torch light into the audiences faces before vocalist Andrea Ferro joined in and sang with the audience. Scabbia, along with Ferro, grab the music and the audience by the scruff of the neck with such overwhelming power it’s irresistible, and it doesn’t let go for a moment.
Old and new fans alike let loose with the early arrival of “Spellbound” uniting two generations of Lacuna Coil fans in a near perfect moment. Many more followed as classics such as “Heavens a Lie”, “Trip the Darkness”, “Enjoy the Silence” and “Our Truth” weaved beautifully with newer numbers “Delirium”, “Blood, Tears, Dust” “Nothing Stands in Our Way” of ‘Broken Crown Halo’ which was prefaced with the band and audience chanting “We fear nothing!” in unison. With the nights closer “House of Shame” an already beautiful performance was brought to a beautiful conclusion.
Lacuna Coil‘s performance, with the Scabbia/Ferro dual vocal powerhouse constantly bouncing lines off one another, proved why they are one of the few bands who know how to make this dual dynamic really work. Moments in between also played a significant part in the evening’s enjoyment as Lacuna Coil never fail to make some one on one time with their audience. With hilarious swap overs between bassist Marco and Cristina that saw cringe worthy attempts at the others role, laughs were had aplenty, and the interplay between members was a refreshing sight to see. Citing that the evenings show was easily the bands favourite performance in London to date, the feeling seemed mutual as the appreciative audience sang both the songs and the band’s praises, as they too gave everything they had to give.
Eight albums in, with two decades of musical excellence, Lacuna Coil are just as relevant, prominent and important now as when they first began, if not more so. Indeed, on the evidence of last Friday Lacuna Coil may only be getting started on another new chapter, and they’re starting it with a bang entitled The Delirium Tour. They say we only truly regret the things we didn’t do. Well don’t dare miss one of these rare live experiences. Any way you can get there, do it. You certainly won’t regret it if you do.