  
Tonight was quite a rare gig - three bands (nothing unusual there), but with all three getting a good long set (that is unusual). In fact tonight all three bands had an hour-long set, including opening band Katatonia - I can't remember seeing an opening act get such a long set before. The venue was around two-thirds full which surprised me - Lacuna Coil headlined here a year ago and pulled in a similar size crowd themselves, so I'd expected a bigger turnout tonight.
First up were Katatonia. Their singer reminds me of Cousin It from the Addams family - all you see is hair. He even sings with the microphone pushed up against the hair that covers his face, and it's only rarely we see a glimpse of his face. The band have just released the 10th anniversary edition of their album "Viva emptiness", so unsurprisingly tonight's setlist is based around that - in fact they play the entire album but rather than doing it in the same order as the album, they play it in reverse order. It's a good performance that goes down well with the crowd although I did find them slightly monotonous after a while.
Katatonia photos - http://festivalphoto.net/pictures&concertID=27812#.UnwHXOKPPIY
Katatonia setlist:
Inside the city of glass
Wait outside
Omerta
Evidence
Complicity
Walking by a wire
One year from now
Wealth
Burn the remembrance
Will I arrive
A premonition
Criminals
Sleeper
Ghost of the sun
Next up were Lacuna Coil. With Marco back with them after recovering from an injury they set about putting in an even more energetic performance than usual. Singers Cristina Scabbia and Andrea Ferro are full of energy and race around the stage, sing, headbang and generally make me feel exhausted just watching them. The band sound in great form tonight, and play a set made up of songs from a range of albums including "Swamped", taken from the Comalies album which Cristina tells the crowd they haven't played live for a long time. They go down extremely well with the crowd and I'm not surprised - Lacuna Coil are a great live band, and their set tonight is my highlight of the night.
Lacuna coil photos - http://festivalphoto.net/pictures&concertID=27814#.UnwHW-KPPIY
Lacuna coil setlist:
I don't believe in tomorrow
Kill the light
Fragments
Heaven's a lie
The game
Our truth
Upside down
Without fear
Swamped
Intoxicated
Trip the darkness
Spellbound
Tonight's headliners were Paradise Lost. The last time I saw them I really wasn't very impressed, so didn't have very high expectations for tonight. Happily though they were better than I expected - and not just a little bit, tonight they were superb, so I must have caught them on a bad day last time. This is the "Tragic Illusion 25" tour, marking 25 years since the release of the Tragic Illusion album. Given that then I was expecting a setlist based primarily around that album, but bizarrely they only included 2 songs from the album - "Faith divides us - death unites us" and "Gothic". It seems very strange to name a tour after an album and to almost completely overlook it when putting the setlist together. Despite this oddity, they do put in a great set and go down very well with the crowd.
It's very clear that this was a very well put together tour - not only did all the bands get a long set, but they all went down very well with the crowd (although the bar area was noticeably busier during Katatonia's set). A great tour with all Katatonia putting in a good performance while Lacuna Coil and Paradise Lost put in excellent performances.
Paradise Lost photos - http://festivalphoto.net/index.php?page=pictures&concertID=27813#.UnwG5-KPPIY
Paradise lost setlist:
Mortals watch the day
So much is lost
Remembrance
Gothic
Enchantment
Faith divides us - death unites us
Tragic idol
Never for the damned
Isolate
Say just words
Encore:
Rotting misery
One second
True belief
Over the madness |
