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Lacuna Coil, Dirty Little Rabbits, Dommin @ O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire, London |
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Lacuna Coil
Dirty Little Rabbits
Dommin
@
O2 Shepherds Bush Empire
London
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Californian goth rockers Dommin let down an expectant crowd tonight with off-kilter drums and weak vocals. The only thing that saves them from a completely dismal show are adequate performances of My Heart, Your Hands and Tonight. With their new album coming out in just 10 days, this isn’t the sort of sales pitch they’d want to give.
Dirty Little Rabbits, however, completely change the atmosphere – always tough for a support band to do. Stella Katsoudas’ (vocals) incredible enthusiasm force a fairly static crowd to start head banging and jumping. Hello and Rabbit Holes are stand-out performances. Between the two bands, these guys are certainly the best choice of main support.
It had been a long three-year wait since Lacuna Coil played a headlining UK tour. And as always, the Italian down-tempo metallers put on a lively and fuel-injected show. The opening track, Survive, sets the bar high. The rest of the first half of their set contains mainly material from their new album – Shallow Life. However, they mix it up with popular old tracks such as Closer and Fragment of Faith. Lacuna also introduce a backdrop video screen, displaying music videos and other cool features and images.
After a short break, Lacuna return to the stage recharged and ready to pull out the big guns. Tracks such as Swamped and Depeche Mode’s Enjoy the Silence get the audience singing along and punching the air, and prove the most popular songs of the night. In typical fashion, the set closes with crowd favourite, Our Truth - the track that always shows off vocalist Cristina Scabbia as an exceptional live performer. Unfortunately, Andrea Ferro’s (male vocals) night wasn’t as good. A few lines are missed and he is off-key at points.
As expected, Lacuna Coil have maintained their reputation of being one of the most entertaining and crowd-engaging live bands in gothic rock. |
Reviewed by Ben Robertson
Photography by Dan Entwistle
Lacuna Coil
Dirty Little Rabbits
Dommin
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Live Reviews 
