Artists : Lacuna Coil – Dirty Little Rabbits – Dommin
Date: February the 5th 2010
Location: Shepherd’s Bush Empire, London, UK
Attendance: aprox. 2000

Live Reports :Dragos

Lacuna Coil has had a quick ascent in the musical business, having reached notoriety after only a couple of albums. Many people argue though that this is only because of the fabulous looks of the female vocalist Cristina Scabbia and their music is not very inspired, especially after they’ve switched styles with Karmacode. On the other hand, their fan base is big enough to swallow all of the critic so rather than trying to make sense of all the chatter, we decided it is best to attend a live concert of the band so we can find out for ourselves if there is more music than the looks. The opportunity came soon enough when the European tour of their latest album Shallow Life scheduled an evening in London, at the Shepherd’s Bush Empire.

Dommin

The event was started by the band Dommin, an interesting rock band from the USA. WE have to admit that we did not heard of them before this event, but we were nevertheless positively impressed by their musicality. They kept their style plain and simple, but at the same time they didn’t plunge into a common sound. Every member was clearly aware of the possibilities of his instrument and this, coupled with a very good stage presence (plus the nice roses strategically placed) and some great vocal interpretation ensured that the public started to feel the rocking atmosphere. Dommin is a band to follow, definitely showing that american rock sound does not stop at core-type acts and is in fact able to gain good originality.

The next band, Dirty Little Rabbits could be placed among similar patters, even though they are situated more towards alternative rock. It is the side-project of Shawn Crahan, best known for his percussion work with Slipknot. Suprisingly (or not) the two acts do not share anything in common, Crahan being quoted as he wanted to depart from the extreme harshness and aggression of his main band. And even though he succeeded that, that sound is far from lacking energy.
The songs are very lively, especially due to the very charismatic and talented vocalist Stella Katsoudas. Although they are yet to release their first full length
album and played songs from from their two released EPs, Breeding and Simon, the members seem to understand each other perfectly and showed maturity and proficiency. Just like with Dommin, we had a very good impression of the band and Stella’s voice is as good as ever. The two opening acts showed that alternative rock can still sound fresh and original and we believe that they were a perfect opening for Cristina & co.

Lacuna Coil
Lacuna Coil headlined the evening and they did it in style. Yes, Cristina has one the greatest voices in metal and still looks amazingly well, but at the same time the rest of the band is definitely up for the challenge. First and foremost, the male-vocalist Andrea proved that he isn’t one of the founders of the band for nothing and delivered an equally outstanding and blistering performance. The two guitarist threw their riffs and leads seamlessly, while the drummer was tight and with a great sense of groove. Unfortunately, their bassist was still recovering from an injury and his absence was noted, at least in terms of image, for his parts were played from a recording.

In terms of the actual songs, Lacuna Coil concentrated (as it was expected) on Shallow Life, their latest release, along with Karmacode and Comalies, excerpts from these three albums consisting around 90% of the concert. They didn’t shy away from bringing forward their modern sound and the melodies that are considered to be their greatest hits. The fast-paced Survive and Underdog opened the festivity, which moved on to include well known songs like Closer, I’m Not Afraid or Heaven’s a Lie, alongside with a solo interlude from Cristina in the form of the track Wide Awake and also their famous cover of Depeche Mode’s Enjoy the Silence, where the vocalists split the public into two and made a contest of which part is the loudest – a very effective and nice way of interacting with the audience.

The ending was reserved for probably their best three songs so far, Not Enough, Spellbound and Our Truth which made the public to behave really wild.
All in all it would be very hard to say something against the showmanship that was displayed. Although they did not have flamethrowers, ultra-flooding lights or levitating devices, Lacuna Coil kept the people connected to the music. Their energy and passion for their music was all that they had, yet they shared it with full generosity. At the same time, if you do not like the music Lacuna Coil plays, it is doubtful that a live concert will change your mind. They have a certain direction and they follow it, be that not everyone is happy with that. Yet if you are undecided, give them a chance. You might be surprised, but there really is very good music behind the image.

Setlist
Survive
Underdog
Closer
I’m Not Afraid
Fragments of Faith
Tight Rope
Senzafine
I Won’t Tell You
Heaven’s a Lie
Fragile
Wide Awake
To the Edge
The Maze
Swamped
Enjoy the Silence (Depeche Mode cover)

Encore
Not Enough
Spellbound
Our Truth

Thanks to Sarah Lees from Century Media for the opportunity and support.