Lacuna Coil @ The Corporation, 28th September 2010

They said it would never happen. They said we were dreamers. But on September 28th, 2010, Lacuna Coil returned to the Corporation, their first visit since the heady days of 2006 when I first ever saw them live. Of course, we've seen them since. Back in January we hauled ourselves over to Manchester for the Shallow Life launch tour, but here they were playing our favourite local metal venue, next door to one of our favourite pubs. How could we possibly miss it?

Mark from Troika

Two support acts were playing that cold Tuesday night; Troika, a local band, and Slaves To Gravity, who were supporting the whole tour. I really enjoyed Troika's set. The band have a quirky amateur demeanour but the music is amazing. Really talented local bunch of Sheffield lads. I'll be checking their music out again in the future for sure. Possibly find a gig to go buy CDs direct from the band.

Slaves To Gravity were up next. They're not really my cup of tea, I'll be honest. Little bit too much grunge and posturing for my taste, but the crowd loved it. I love finding that a band I would never normally listen to put on a show that gets the crowd going. The atmosphere is what makes live music special.

Slaves To Gravity

After a wait that felt like an eternity, as it always does while waiting for Lacuna Coil to come on stage, the house lights dimmed. A hush descended, just for a moment, and the crowd went wild.

And what a show they put on! Starting out with Underdog and I'm Not Afraid from Shallow Life, this proved to be a very varied show with some delving into the band's back catalogue. Classics like Honeymoon Suite and Half Life made an appearance, as well as long standing favourites Swamped and Heaven's A Lie.

Karmacode stole most of the show, with eight of the eighteen tracks played from that album. Fragments Of Faith and Our Truth are a must, and of course, what would a Lacuna Coil show be without a sing-along to Enjoy The Silence? Shallow Life came in second, with six tracks including I Won't Tell You and Spellbound. The setlist was expertly put together, effectively mixing classics and recent fan favourites to keep the pace throughout the entire set and into the encore.

The Corporation once again shone as a live venue. While Manchester Academy 1 was an impressive venue, it lacked the intimacy of the Corporation. At the larger venue, you watch a show. At the Corp, you are part of it. I was very excited when I found out about the gig, and now I can safely say it's the best Lacuna Coil gig I've ever seen. Simply awesome.