I went to see Lacuna Coil ($30) at the Fillmore, Silver Spring and met up with Bridget and Mari (AGAIN), Russell, Scott, Ray,a nd boot brother TJ! It was a pretty small group but it was fun hanging. The last time that I saw Lacuna Coil was
earlier this year on the "hottest chicks in hard rock tour, and the turnout wasn't near sold out (and they didn't headline either), so I was expecting a pretty light night.
At the high point I think there were about 120-150 people there, a far cry from the amount they draw in other venues/places. One woman from CA was astounded by how few people there were when she mentioned that they were drawing Merriweather crowds (~15 thousand plus) at some venues near her. I don't have any CA figures but that sounded way off, the disparity. In any event, it was a nice intimate show and I was up front (first 3 rows, fluctuating) for DYK and LC (thanks Bridget/Mari!). I got there kind of late because of work/food, but I still caught about a third of new darlings Unlocking The Truth.
Broken Crown Merchandise
The merch I scoped out when I entered, and it was not a lot. Shirts for Lacuna Coil were $25 (one was $30), they had a hoodie, the new album, and a couple other items. Devil You Know had their album ($15), shirts, poster. Unlocking the Truth had no albums and a shirt. I know Bad Seed Rising had some shirts because I saw a few people with those, but I definitely didn't get there in time to see them- the ticket said showtime 8PM, doors 7. I think Bad Seed Rising went on at 7:30, which seems a bit off, thanks Fillmore. Speaking of odd, the lineup was indeed strange- 2 "Kid" metal/rock bands, Metalcore Devil You Know, and Hard Rockin' Lacuna Coil (all of which draw different crowds except um me I guess). Also of note was that the LC merch had a 'first 100 people getting some LC merch would get a golden ticket for a meet n greet after the show. I guess I could have gotten something and participated...
Unlocking the bad band name
Unlocking the Truth is a three piece band of 3 black kids who had becomes something of a minor sensation after being featured on yubtub and other media- these kids are pretty young and actually rather full of potential. I didn't really dig their songs, but you could tell they were rather skilled with their instruments and very tight. I think they should get some one to help them write, because they sure can play. They seemed a little nervous and apparently the drummer clocked himself with a drum stick at some point during their set. They had decent applause.
The Devil You May or May not Know
Devil You Know (the band, not the Heaven and Hell album) featuring Howard Jones and a slew of members from other bands (Francesco Artusato- (All Shall Perish) guitars, John Sankey- (Fear Factory) drums, Ryan Wombacher- (Bleeding Through) Bass n vox)) , was up next. I had seen them
open for Black Label Society earlier this year, and wasn't too enthused. Maybe this time would be better. I was up close (pretty much right in front of Francesco) and it was definitely more enjoyable. Franceso was the highlight, as I was able to concentrate on his actually pretty impressive guitar playing. I think I may look into
his new album, "Our Dying Sun." Howard seemed partially laid back and partially pissy, I couldn't really decide, but it was a little less cordial than last time. He would crack one joke, then some audience member would shout something stupid (Killswitch Engage was mentioned at least 3 times), and he'd crack a pretty rude joke (one that's a little cringeworthy, but hey I still laughed). Rinse, Repeat. Anyways, my one friend mentioned when trying to take photos that he would.not.stop.moving! He was skipping across stage and pretty high energy... during the songs. The bass drums sounded like (and felt like) they were exploding, similar to Destrophy's pounding bass drum. It was almost TOO Loud but awesome at the same time. We got a couple more songs this time, and I was thinking why not just play the whole album? That's the good part about seeing new bands with just one or two albums because the chances of hearing your favourite deep cut are increased dramatically.
Franceso, killin it live
Musically, they sounded pretty close to the album, and I definitely think they were a bit stronger this time than their previous outing. Again, Franceso really impressed me, but not to the "mejor del mundo" like someone behind me shouted. A pretty good set that only dragged in between some songs when there was really... silence. Then Howard would make a joke about the people up in the balcony being old and/or tired. I'm interested in see where this venture takes him. Also of note was that the previous night I did see
Within Temptation sing a duet with his digital self on the screen behind them, and now today I was seeing Howard live.
Thankfully this pic is not upside down
Lacuna Coil finally got on stage to way louder fanfare than I thought possible for this small crowd! I think that combined with being in a more intimate distance really helped, as this was the best I'd seen Lacuna Coil (IMO). They played about double the songs they did last time- 4 from "Broken Crown Halo," 5 from "Dark Adrenaline," 2 from "Shallow Life," 3 from "Karmacode", 1 from "Comalies." Their Depeche Mode cover was very well received, but I thought the best 2 tracks were "Heaven's a Lie" and the newer "Nothing Stands in Our Way" (it sounded realllllllly good for some reason-I think Andrea and Christina were IN THE ZONE). The small crowd was pretty into pretty much all LC songs, but kind of quiet in between songs. Their bassist was not their current bassist, but a replacement as he was experiencing some sort of sickness.
Christina
Soundwise, everything was a bit great sounding until about halfway thru their set, Then, thing just seemed to get a bit out of balance and the bass n drums were drowning out Christina Scabbia and Andrea Ferro. Things got a bit better near the end, but it kind of disrupted the good mood that these Italian goth/symphonic/metal/hard rockers had set up. I definitely enjoyed this performance the most of the few times I have seen LC. I am not a super-fan like some friends are ;3 but I still enjoyed it a lot!
With replacement bassist
There were some rather odd lights that started strobing later, but for the most part the lights were adding to the atmosphere. Note that the Broken Crown Halos had some sort of 3D effect on them and seemed as if they were popping on the display,
Nothing Stood in my way of getting a foto
Overall, It was a pretty fun show, but I was left wondering how Rata Blanca at the Howard Theater was (tho for 3x the price- $60+!). I enjoyed hanging out with some rarer friends, and being up close really augmented the experience (usually I'm back further). Also, TJ reminded me of a Shredder show- Tony McAlpine- coming up soon.
Next Show: Suffocation + Kataklysm
Setlists
Unlocking the Truth (~8:30- 8:40 well I saw starting at 8:30)
Devil You Know (9:00- 9:45ish)
- A New Beginning
- My Own
- Seven Years Alone
- Embracing the Torture
- It's Over
- The Killer
- A Mind Insane
- Crawl from the Dark
- Shut It Down
Lacuna Coil (10:17ish-11:20)
- Trip the Darkness
- Spellbound
- Intoxicated
- Die & Rise
- Heaven's a Lie
- Survive
- Kill the Light
- Fire
- Victims
- To the Edge
- Zombies
- Upsidedown
- Enjoy the Silence (Depeche Mode cover)
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- Nothing Stands in Our Way
- Our Truth
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