Venue: Esplanade Annexe Studio, Singapore
Date: 13th December 2022
Promoter: LAMC Productions
Review by: Maisha G.
Photos by Cliff Y.
Three years have passed since Covid-19 hit our shores and the massive change hit fast and hard with the lack of live shows or none at all until recently when the rules have eased, and we have since embraced the change and tried the ‘new normal’.
I felt rather out of place all dressed up for a gig, I was almost not sure what was the appropriate attire. In fact, I was rather anxious about what to expect at a show nowadays. Three years was a long time and the time usually spent going for gigs was quickly replaced with doing more work than the human brain can sustain.
I vaguely remember the size of the venue having attended a show there before in 2018 and know that it was smaller than your usual indoor venues and posed a much cozier concept, but this was going to be a metal show and with the headbanging and the probably mosh pits that would erupt, who knows how the place will contain all that action.
I had one too many expectations and I had to prepare myself for this show by slowly reminding myself what a metal show looks like and feels like by watching copious YouTube videos, to remind myself of what to expect. I felt embarrassed having lost touch with attending shows that my taste in music was slowly evolving, too. I choose to call it eclectic as opposed to thinking that I have mellowed over time. Yet, I went into the venue with a head full of hope and my body was ready to come what may.
I walked towards the front of the stage, which was smaller than I remembered the place to be, and placed myself nicely tucked away from the middle crowd and just by the stage side, waiting for the show to start. The crowd soon grew familiar as I see the streams of metalheads, clad in their battle vests and the rough edges of band logo patches sewn nicely which put a smile on my face as I slowly got into the gears of recollecting the good old days of attending a metal show. And with the blaring background music to keep the streams of gig-goers amped and pumped for the concert, I caught myself smiling so widely and said ‘yes, I remember this, I remember how this feels again’ and at that moment, I was not anxious or jittery anymore, I felt right at home albeit going to the show alone; it just felt right again, just like the old times.
Lacuna Coil, hailing all the way from Milan, Italy, has been around for the formative years of metal music for people my age. Better known as ‘gothic metal’, often being associated with the metal head ‘get up’, they boast more than just the theme of their band with their amazing albums, to boot. The recently remastered ‘Comalies’, their album made popular in 2002 was reformed and renewed as ‘Comalies XX’ this year, an apt move to commemorate one of the best albums they have put out, in my opinion.
I recalled catching them at Pulp Summer Slam in Manila in 2016 on a massive stage and we were standing at the very front, like true groupies, getting our faces melted by their performance that blew us away. It was transposed from a massive setting to something intimate, in a quaint space but that was not going to stop them from putting out the fantastic performance that they never failed to deliver, time and time again.
They started the night with “Blood, Tears, Dust” and you saw the sizeable crowd grow twice the size as the voices in unison echoed “Do you remember my friend, when I was frozen and dead inside” as the movement became more rigorous and I was moved from my tucked corner to join the crowd. The exhilaration overcame my body and I told myself ‘I am right where I am supposed to be’.
I have always admired women vocalists, in particular, metal vocalists because they can not only sing the clean parts to the song, but they bellow and growl harder than any normal human man could do and I find that highly attractive and sensational. Cristina Scabbia, the one woman whom with much poise, bellowed the belts to the song “Daylight Dancer XX” so effortlessly and seamlessly, I likened that to listening on Spotify but she sounded leaps and bounds better live. I was truly enthralled by her vocal capabilities that I was lost in the pit of humans punching their fists in the air and singing their hearts out the anthem of their choice.
Richard Meiz, having to follow suit of the past proteges, exhibited his flair in the drums but the hard hits of the blast beats that reverberated through the crowd. Having dressed in white jumpsuits with splatters of red and black, and their faces painted to commemorate the identity of a metalhead, the crowd was caught in a trance with the magnificent performance that kept their feet moving all throughout the night.
Andrea Ferro, the one in charge of the growls and the edge of the band did not miss a beat in his note as he bellowed through the lyrics for “Delirium”. I for one was screaming at the top of my lungs, having this song close to my heart with a piece of story attached to it, my attention was panned on him throughout the whole song as I felt one in my heart and in tune with the number. I grew slightly emotional, just reminiscing about the good old days, and was positive that this will not be the last as more promising shows are hitting our shores sooner than I could catch my breath.
With Diego Cavallotti and Marco Coti Zelati, both working their prowess through the instrument of their choice; the guitar and bass, they have elevated the band higher with their magical fingers and made sure to cover every facet of the stage, as they beckoned the crowd to roar louder and harder than before.
Everyone and I mean, every single one in the room that night did not stand still. We were continuously moving to the beat of the drums, the strums of the strings, and the voices of the songs we cheer on to all throughout the night. Everyone was finding their footing that night and enjoying the time when they were not allowed to do so for the past three years. It was a release for all metal fans alike that evening and Cristina gifted us with the song we were all waiting for that night, a fantastic take on Depeche Mode’s popular number “Enjoy the Silence” made popular by them with their metal rendition of the song. People were seen crowd surfing and small circle pits started forming at every corner. And when I looked up, what I saw were all smiles of pure joy and elation.
The band closed the night with “Nothing Stands In Our Way” as Cristina lead the crowd to chant “We fear nothing”, while she shares her outtakes on the recent happenings all over the world, how the pandemic has caused us to put a halt on many things but yet to not let our spirits falter. We sang our hearts out that very night, not even batting an eye as to whether our voices will still be intact after the roaring screams to each and every word of the songs they gifted us. Bright wide smiles were painted across the faces of every gig goer and their cathartic release was finally put in place. I left the space with smiles that were foreign to me for the past three years and I knew it in my heart, that I will always and forever remain metal.
Thank you, Lacuna Coil for giving us the semblance of normalcy after years of uncertainty and constant worry for we know, your music saved us for the damning reality. Thank you, LAMC productions for an incredible night and one to always be remembered as the closing chapter for the trying year of 2022.