Live Review : Lacuna Coil + Blind Channel @ Academy, Manchester on October 20th 2024

The reverential position that Lacuna Coil now holds has been achieved through the complete antithesis to overnight success. Formed 30 years ago in Milan asSleep of Right they have slowly but diligently built a unified fan base. This is their ninth visit to this fair city and on each excursion to our beloved northern outpost they have subtly but significantly increased the amount of people present. This evening's patronage is to herald the arrival of their 10th studio album (and first in six years) which will see the light of the day early next year. There is a palpable excitement around the room as, aside from a Download appearance marred by muddy sound, this is their first swing around this country since those far-off pre-pandemic days. Falling on the sabbath means that the show is an early start and whilst it hasn't even struck six yet the queue to enter the building sweeps far down the road.

Those who are in situ early bear witness to an interesting spectacle. Blind Channel are unapologetically Fisher Price my first metal band material. Their presentation is so smooth and synchronised, it is like watching a boy band experiment with the dark arts. Everything is immaculately choreographed, and all rough edges have been diligently smoothed over. There is a frantic energy to their performance, but just feels extremely safe and un-challenging. They demand a pit, but they only rewarded with a slight indentation in the crowd with a couple of teens politely pushing each other.

There are those in the crowd who embrace the cheese and get with the program, but in the main, they face blank indifference and muttered accusations likening them to One Direction and N-Sync. They don't help their cause by covering the Backstreet Boys which then promptly merges into their big Eurovision number, ‘Dark Side’. Those who are down with it all scream along in ecstasy but to most of us it still sounds like Linkin Park with the safety catch on. There is a place for sugar-coated pop in our world but the problem with this variation of cheese is that it lacks any substance. There is nothing wrong with blissful abandonment, but sadly Blind Channel have the nutritional value of a Kraft cheese slice.

Lacuna Coil are experts at cultivating a set list. This evening, they showcase a 19-song-strong performance that manages to be both immaculately rendered and packed with emotional resonation. You don't do this for this long and not know exactly what buttons to press with your audience. They may well smuggle in four unreleased songs from an album that won't see the light of day for another six months, but they still manage to provide an evening's entertainment that doesn't drag and has no obvious low points. They are unrepentant in staying on the commercial end of Goth and doom but it is so well sculpted that it is easy to forgive them the obvious level of accessibility.

What flows out is the passion, there is a stereotype of Italians as a passionate race and tonight every track boils over with simmering passion. An elongated step runs along the lip of the stage, allowing the dual vocalists of Cristina and Andrea to command over the crowd. They both act as enthusiastic mc’s , hyping the already adoring crowd into a feeding frenzy of adulation. Cristina’s voice is as always astonishing. It is classically precise but never feels staid or boring. She tosses out the notes with unbridled desire, a cauldron of infatuated obsession. As always, the beauty of her refrains juxtaposes magnificently with the harshness of Andrea’s dulcet tones.

There is an underlying intelligence to Lacuna’s Coil’s approach. Their tracks team with emotional literacy and feel like philosophical vinaigrettes on the absurdity of existence. Cristina candidly explains that new track ‘In The Meantime’ is about how we are not kind to ourselves and continually tie ourselves to unattainable objectives. Elsewhere they tackle the dark recesses of the soul, with “Kamacode’s” stunning ‘Our Truth’ feeling particularly confessional. There is an intensity at play here that mesmerises the audience and draws us all into their world. The five tracks aired from their standout record “Comalies” are all performed in their revamped versions from the 2022 20th anniversary reinterpretation of the record. This just adds to the ethereal atmospherics as these reimaginings are fuelled by brooding fervour.

However, the moments of the show is reserved for a track that isn't even theirs. They have been performing their version of Depeche Mode's ‘Enjoy the Silence’ for nearly 20 years and it is now intrinsically baked into their DNA. As always it is astonishing and the crowd singalong with unguarded reverence. At its heart it is a slight, minimal track that shows the beauty of reserved and restrained songwriting. Lacuna Coil play into that adding a Gothic etherealness but very little else. Its power is in its basicness and it’s one of those moments where you catch your breath around the whole majestic nature.

An encore is inevitable, and we get further visits to the re-engineered “Comalies”, however, the climax is reserved for ‘Nothing Stands in Our Way’ which has morphed into a stomping aspirational anthem. By this point Cristina is coursing with emotive power, and she just burns off the stage. Lacuna Coil gets unfairly lumped into the symphonic/bombastic brethren when there is actually an unrefutable and unrestrained darkness at the heart of what they're doing. This means for all the commercial and anthemic components of their songs there is an intriguing harshness at play. As a live act they are exquisitely hypnotic and tonight's performance is bewitching into emotional depth. This is a band unafraid to be open about their personal demons and that vulnerability makes it such a sumptuous experience.

Check the “In The Flesh” page for more photos!
Lacuna Coil + Blind Channel