LACUNA COIL – Essen (02-11-2016)
After the release of “Delirium” in May 2016, LACUNA COIL have been busy touring on their Delirium World Tour. For the European part of the tour they were joined by hopeful newcomers FOREVER STILL from Denmark and Italian Symphonic Death Metallers GENUS ORDINIS DEI.
The tour that started in Paris in late October stopped in Essen at Zeche Carl, a smallish venue in the middle of the Ruhr-area, a region of Germany where city-limits are blurry, one beside the other. To my surprise, there’s already a queue when I arrive (with time to spare) – we all know and love them first-row fans.
A great surprise from North Italy: GENUS ORDINIS DEI!
The concert starts over an hour later and GENUS ORDINIS DEI are so ready to rock! They enjoy their short set from the first note of their cohesive performance, impressing the still small audience. The sound engineer deserves good credit at this point, because the band’s sound is excellent! Good sound can’t be taken for granted in these old fabrics turned music venues.
The five years of the band’s existence are visible in their confidence, communication among themselves and with the crowd but most of all in the united front that they present. Singer Nick K keeps a serious face throughout the gig, but that strikes me as only appropriate to the music. Being the evening’s opener, the band has almost no space to move on stage, which is filled with three drum sets, backdrops, etc. Still they take the time to turn their backs to the audience and put on their hoods while choirs play an intro, to then turn around together and keep rocking. When G.O.D say their goodbyes, it surely seems too short but I can’t wait to see the other bands.
FOREVER STILL: technically great with performance potential.
During change-over the Danes from FOREVER STILL come out with their banners and I can’t help but laugh at the comment from my accompanying photographer: “What are they, 14?” pointing out how young the band members look. They very professionally master their soundcheck – which makes sense since Mikkel Haastrup is not only the band’s live-bassist but also a sound engineer. Vocalist Maja Shining, however, seems to be in a bad mood. Is the diva-myth still alive in the younger generations…? Nah, hopefully it was just one rough day.
After listening to FOREVER STILL‘s album “Tied Down” for some time and after a wonderful interview with Maja, my expectations might have been a little high. The first songs of the young band are instrumentally well delivered, but it takes the singer some time to warm up her voice. Slowly but surely the clean vocal parts get better, but Maja’s grunts are never as strong and brutal as they are on the record. But as I said, this might just be a one-time thing.
I still get to enjoy my favourite songs ‘Save Me’ and ‘Scars’, with which the band ends their performance. Throughout the show, the band’s mastermind Mikkel seems to be having the most fun, jumping around on stage trying to push the others to the same level. Live guitarist Maja Partsch and the drummer, whose name remains unknown to me, also make a good effort in terms of performance, still focusing on their technical skills.
Singer Maja Shining is the one to move the most, in a performance that seems very rehearsed, with little contact to the audience. Of course the Danes are young and their “shyness” is absolutely natural on their first big tour with an established band, so I still hold the best hopes for FOREVER STILL. And I’m not the only one, there’s a reason they get to tour with The Italian Gothfathers…
It’s always an awesome trip with LACUNA COIL!
It’s never a nice thing to start with technical difficulties, but after being around for almost 20 years LACUNA COIL knows how to deal with them:
Until the problems are solved, singer Andrea Ferro talks his way into the locals hearts when he thanks the audience for being at the show and missing beloved team Borussia Dortmund‘s Champions League game against Lisbon’s Sporting Club de Portugal.
The show goes on with great hits from all of the band’s albums, combined with songs from LACUNA COIL‘s latest record “Delirium”, which also gives the name to this tour. ‘Spellbound’ and ‘Heaven’s A Lie’ make the audience sing along in the first part of the Italians’ set and they even play a new version of the “Comalies”-song ‘The Ghost Woman and the Hunter’.
From “Delirium” we get to enjoy the show’s opener ‘Ultima Ratio’, as well as ‘Blood, Tears, Dust’ and ‘Downfall’. In between the songs the charismatic Cristina Scabbia announces the titles with motivational little speeches and wise words. She even has an outfit-change worked into the set: The band starts with the white straight-jacket combo from their sanatorium album concept, Cristina changes into a white, vintage wedding dress sprayed with blood to perform ‘You Love Me ‘Cause I Hate You’ with Andrea sitting on a chair, to then go back to her white pants and a skin-colored top.
Singer Andrea on the other hand wears a t-shirt with what I assume to be a “patient number” printed on his chest. He delivers an emotional performance full of energy, with his rougher vocals giving the music a Metalcore touch. Of course, the whole band is always very energetic, taking advantage of the by now spacious stage, although the two singers mostly remain in their places. A sight we don’t get so often anymore: both vocalists use cable-microphones, which they include in their performances.
Marco Coti Zelati‘s bass is powerful and reminds me of SLIPKNOT, more so with his clown-makeup. ‘Our Truth’ and ‘Enjoy The Silence’ get the by now full-looking venue singing along, but it’s Cristina’s call encouraging everyone to chant “we fear nothing” in a moving statement of the band’s endurance that gets me emotional. The motivational discourse obviously leads to ‘Nothing Stands In Our Way’ right before the band disappears for a break. LACUNA COIL ends the evening performing “Delirium” and “The House Of Shame” – songs that will play on in our heads on the way home. What an amazing show the Italians play!
Pictures by Claudia Brüggenkamp – Brüggenkamp Foto/Grafikdesign.
Have you seen LACUNA COIL, FOREVER STILL and/or GENUS ORDINIS DEI live? Tell us in the comments!