Report

Lacuna Coil Ends Their Tour In Style At The 02 Bristol Academy

How do I loathe Bristol Academy? Let me count the ways. Across the street from The Hatchet Inn, Bristol's oldest pub, having opened in 1606, lies the 02 Academy, one of many in the UK and host to several rock and metal shows over the years. While having a fairly large capacity (around 1600,) it's very cramped and if you're not at the front of the stage or the balcony, you'll be watching the show with a limited view throughout. Nevertheless, when a band of Lacuna Coil's magnitude comes to town, it's something not to be missed. Having recently announced their next album, "Sleepless Empire," their first in six years, fans were eager to hear these new songs live and experience the classics, and so it was that West Country metalheads, Goths and alternatives united to witness the Milano metallers.

Opening the show tonight was Finnish nu metal revivalists, Blind Channel. There's been a lot of hype around the Oulu sextet and with a hiatus and documentary coming soon, it was an interesting time to see them live. It was a busy night in Bristol and a good number of the crowd appeared to be fans of their work, welcoming the 2021 Eurovision contestants with open arms. It needs to be pointed out immediately that if you don't like nu metal, you won't enjoy Blind Channel. Their music is straight from the "Hybrid Theory" playbook, but there's a lot of people who like early Linkin Park so they fill that void for people searching for something to fill it. No one can deny that they possess tremendous energy and make use of it throughout their set, much to the delight of the fans in attendance, and the onlookers which they'd won over. There were some surprising choices, including a cover of System Of A Down's "B.Y.O.B." and a rendition of the Backstreet Boys hit, "Backsteet's Back," which proved very divisive; dancers to the left of me, complainers to the right. Personally, I didn't enjoy the set whatsoever, but it's hard to argue with a room where 90% of the people are having a great time.

Restlessly, fans were itching for the arrival of Lacuna Coil, who made their grand entrance around 9:15 to a thunderous reaction. They kicked off with "Blood, Tears, Dust," from the 2016 album, "Delirium," followed promptly by a superb performance of "Reckless," the first of six songs from their most recent album, "Black Anima." It should come as no surprise that the second most represented album was the classic, "Comalies," though interestingly, the band performed slightly slower arrangements, which were recorded for the "Comalies XX" re-recording two years ago. These new renditions may not be to everyone's taste, somewhat reminiscent of how Celtic Frost altered "Procreation Of The Wicked," though nowhere near that doom laden. Nevertheless, hearing the likes of "Heaven's A Lie," "Entwined" and of course, "Swamped," is always a treat.

As always, both Andrea Ferro and Cristina Scabbia are in phenomenal voice. Ferro is always in the perfect place for his delivery, both in terms of songwriting and performance, and Scabbia is a natural wonder. Experiencing her voice is like hearing Renata Tebaldi or Sam Cooke, it's something you listen to and think, "I'm in the presence of greatness." She did the majority of talking in between songs, speaking on the healing power of music before continuing to enrapture the audience with powerful performances of "Our Truth" and "Trip The Darkness." With so many memorable tunes, it was no surprise to hear the crowd in full voice throughout most of the set, quickly learning new songs like "Hosting The Shadow," "Oxygen" and "In The Mean Time," the last of which gave its name to the tour. The encore consisted of several "Comalies" numbers, including the aforementioned, "Swamped," as well as "Aeon" and "Tight Rope," before Lacuna Coil finished the night with their own anthem, "Nothing Stands In Our Way" from "Black Crown Halo." It was surprising not to hear anything from "Shallow Life," but even if fans didn't get to hear their favourites tonight, there'll be no complaints about the exciting, uplifting and dynamic performance the band gave. A wonderful end to their European tour.