Wednesday was a major first for me: it was my first time seeing Lacuna Coil live. It only fits that my first blog post on this website should be about their performance at the Saint Vitus Bar in Brooklyn, New York.
The stage, which was only slightly less cluttered than a NYC studio apartment.
Unlike my friends who joined me last night, I did not grow up listening to Lacuna Coil (for the record, Lacuna Coil released their first EP when I was nine-years-old). My introduction to their sound was in 2008, when Karmacode was still their most recent album. "Our Truth" became an instant favorite and, even up until my graduation from college three years later, that song always managed to sneak its way onto my personal playlists and WHRW Binghamton broadcasts. After listening to their growing discography for over eight years, seeing a live performance was long overdue.
Wednesday also happened to be my first time at the Saint Vitus Bar. At first glance, I was not incredibly impressed. The venue was quite small - probably the smallest I have been to. There was no backstage for the singers to come out from, nor to rest their vocal chords between songs. Only around ten to fifteen people could occupy front of the stage, and there was no gap separating the band members from the hands of their eager fans. Two large speakers were suspended from the ceiling, but even the size of one would have been more than enough to flood the small area with sound.
Andrea Ferro casually bumping fists with an eager fan.
Yet smaller can often be better, and even though Lacuna Coil could easily draw in a crowd more than ten times the size that occupied the Saint Vitus Bar the other night, this space was absolutely ideal for a more intimate performance by the group. Cristina Scabbia, the female vocalist, entertained many of the outstanding shout-outs from the crowd while Andrea Ferro, the male vocalist and one of the founding members, ensured that no hand was left unshaken and no fist was left un-bumped. The show also marked the first New York City appearance of their new guitarist, Diego Cavallotti, who was just a bit too focused on his guitar-work to engage in the tomfoolery of his fellow band-mates. The band made us feel like close friends with their jokes and personal interactions with the crowd, which made the overall performance more memorable than even the biggest of New York City metal shows.
"Wow - you're a dick!" - Cristina Scabbia exclaims to Marco Coti Zelati before swapping instruments with him.
As for the crowd, most of the people were almost as pleasant as the band members themselves, with the exception of a small handful who were quite sour with the shows almost two-hour delay (which I've come to expect at smaller venues). Unfortunately, on more than one occasion, you could hear an exceptionally bitter man yell angrily at the band between songs. Thankfully, no one paid him much mind, and the show, once it was underway, went forward with no other setbacks.
Diego Cavallotti gracefully raising the devil's horns upon his introduction.
The performance definitely stood out as one of my favorite in recent years. It is difficult to ascertain whether or not the experience would have been just as amazing in a larger but more impersonal venue. Fortunately, Lacuna Coil will be performing in New York City again on June 9th at the Gramercy Theatre, giving me and many more people in the Greater New York City area the chance to see them perform again.
Andrea Ferro soaking in the applause after playing "Our Truth."