Gig Review: Lacuna Coil / Blind Channel – Rock City, Nottingham (24th October 2024)

This gig will be a taste of nu-metal and goth metal. Two European bands coming together to give us a great mix of music. Tonight, we catch Lacuna Coil on their “In the Meantime” tour.

Blind Channel (c) Jayne Slater

Blind Channel opened tonight with a hefty 50 minute set for the 6-piece Finnish band. The band gained international recognition when they performed on Eurovision 2021 and the popularity has steadily grown since. The band has a strong fanbase in the UK already. Fans lined at the barrier, singing their hearts out. It always fills me with a warm feeling when I see so much love, not just for the headliner.

Is it a surprise that Blind Channel has such a strong presence on stage? The band is just natural with how they deliver a great performance. Even people who had no clue who they were were bobbing their heads and staring straight at the stage and not their phones. Each band member is constantly on the move on stage, and for a 6 member group that’s a lot. Your eyes are darting from left to right, not knowing who to look at.

The audience held up phone torches for “Die Another Day” (hopefully one tour date RORY makes a surprise cameo on stage). A great moment of the night was during the chorus when the band let the audience sing, all other instruments stopped.I almost feel bad for the audience members who weren’t able to sing along…they know now to start binging the discography, I guess.

Towards the end of their set, they asked “do we have any backstreet boys fans here?” The crowd went wild. I look to the stage. Thinking, “what?” Well…they have a cover of “Everybody” on the set list. Suddenly, it’s like being at a disco and everyone around is singing along. Are you a support band? Worried people won’t know the lyrics and feel left out? Just add Backstreet Boys to the set list, dudes. Audience members once stood taking in the view were now raising glasses to the air and singing “BACKSTREET’S BACK ALRIGHT.”

The band has such a great way of interacting with the audience. Getting the audience to clap on beat or just shout “hey” in time with the drums and of course the standard “put your hands up!” A classic. One vocalist even professed his love for the people in the moshpit towards the end of the set. Seeing Blind Channel live is more like them singing with you than at you. They make you feel involved in the stage and like your presence is what completes it. It’s great to see.

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Lacuna Coil (c) Jayne Slater

Lacuna Coil come on. The Italian 5-piece building suspense by first releasing the drummer on stage. He then got the crowd to make noise, moving his hands up and down. Getting the crowd hyped. The rest of the band then followed to the cawing of the crowd. The two vocalists take their place on the platform, lining the edge of the stage. The brutal screams deafen the speakers, with that classic goth-rock style soft vocal that feels like it’s from a musical shortly after (not a bad thing).

Compared to Blind Channel, the crowd seems quiet. Between songs- great, loud, cheering. During songs though? No sound is louder than that of the band on stage. I can see people moshing and people even standing on chairs on the balcony to get a view, yet I can’t hear singing along? Instead it’s people with beers in hand, moshing their heads and rocking their bodies (reading this back…did I just subconsciously make a backstreet boys reference?). To be fair, this can sometimes be the case with midweek shows, people have to contain that energy so they aren’t burnt out for the next working day.

There’s a theatrical feel to Lacuna Coil. I would say, if I was gonna have a gripe about their set…I wished the costumes were like what they are in the band promos. They come out in custom Lacuna Coil jumpsuits. They’re nice for sure…I just wanted some flowing motion going on with the fans on stage…turns out the fans were just for capes the guitarists wear. The wardrobe almost juxtaposes the music, you see a jumpsuit but hear this classic goth metal. To be fair, maybe they’re just dressed ready for the party at Rock City they said they’ll be at after the gig ends.

Each band member is entertaining to watch. They all reach to the crowd, one vocalist pointing her finger at a fan lining the barrier (I swear I saw the biggest smirk on the fans face when I looked to see, bro will remember that for life). The guitarists were switching sides every song, making sure to play to different areas and the drummer would be standing from his kit between breakdowns motioning to the crowd. It’s nice to see a band that is there to perform to a crowd and not just perform a new album to fill a PR quota. It shows they understand the gig experience is all about the fanbase and not the songs.

Lacuna Coil are a staple band within the metal scene. They’ve been around for 20 years and they won’t be going anywhere anytime soon. It’s amazing seeing the range of demographics the band brings together. Blind Channel have an amazing career ahead of them, soon to be a staple themselves. This tour will wrap at the end of October. Neither band you want to miss and if you do, Lacuna Coil can be caught at Bloodstock 2025 where I’m sure we’ll be having more bangers from their new album releasing early that year.

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Photos by Jayne Slater

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