Over a year ago Apocalyptica was supposed to come to the United States to perform on their “Cell-0 World Tour”, but the pandemic had other ideas for the artist and fans. Fast forward a year and finally, the band was able to make it to the United States along with Lacuna Coil to perform for all of their fans. On April 8, 2022, their tour stop was in Orlando, FL at The Plaza Live. It’s a great venue for shows with a low and wide stage and a huge photo pit for media. Plus, tons of rooms for fans and a seated balcony upstairs. And The Plaza Live needed the room that night as it was a totally sold-out show.
I arrived early to meet up with some friends I hadn’t seen in a while and to let the line die down before going inside. I was beyond excited for this show. I had the pleasure of photographing both artists before and both put on an excellent show. When I got inside the merchandise line for both bands was already backed up. It was backed up so far that it bled into the line for the bar. I made my way through the crowd to the photo pit to meet up with my media friends. They were just as excited as I was and the fans against the barrier were itching for the show to start. It felt like an eternity as all of us kept checking on the time, but the moment those lights went down, The Plaza Live erupted into cheers, screams, and sounds of utter bliss.
The tour only had two artists for the tour, which was perfect as each of them would get a long set to perform. Lacuna Coil was first up to the stage and I can’t say enough good things about them. They are from Milan, Italy and started in 1994 under a different name that would change twice before landing on Lacuna Coil in 1997. They’ve been labeled as gothic metal though I see them as more melodic metal in a style similar to Epica. Lacuna Coil released their first album In A Reverie in 1997 via Century Media Records. The band become well-known fairly quickly but it was their 3rd album Comalies in 2002 that broke them out with the single “Heaven’s A Lie”. The second single from that album, “Swamped” ended up on the video game Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines and on the movie soundtrack for Resident Evil: Apocalypse. From there it’s been full steam ahead for the band that has 9 studio albums with their most recent being Black Anima released in 2019. Lacuna Coil is comprised of Cristina Scabbia (vocals), Andrea Ferro (vocals), Marco Coti Zelati (bass), Diego Cavalotti (guitars), and Richard Meiz (drums).
One of the things I truly love about Lacuna Coil, besides their awesome music, is their stage presence. The musicians come out all face painted in white and black, though Marco likes to paint the top of his head red, as if you can see his brains, looking like haunting skeletons. Richard’s face paint is spectacular with his black beard and he makes such wonderful facial expressions. Cristina and Andrea come out with hooded floor-length tunics with red claw-like markings on various spots on their bodies. The cheers were so loud I think they were even surprised by the energy this crowd was bringing. And then kicked off their set with “Blood, Tears, Dust” from their 2016 album Delirium, which is one of my favorite albums. It’s so heavy up-front and then Andrea just rips out his unclean vocals and when Cristina hits the chorus with her clean vocals it’s so mind-blowing. They followed with “Trip the Darkness” the first single of the 2012 Dark Adrenaline. The single was included on the Underworld: Awakenings soundtrack and is a wonderful song. While it’s a little lighter as Andrea and Cristina both do clean vocals, it runs goosebumps up your arm when you hear it. They turned it back heavy again with “Reckless” from Black Anima. I truly enjoy this song as the chorus just is so catchy and Cristina truly shows off her vocal chops with some seriously high falsetto. The night was starting off right.
Lacuna Coil was pleased from the crowd that night and the looks on their faces showed it. Cristina said she was loving the energy from the Orlando crowd. Andrea was constantly getting the crowd engaged to sing and jump around. If The Plaza Live allowed moshing (huge signs all over saying moshing and crowd surfing wasn’t allowed) I’m sure the pits that night would have been frantic. At one point Cristina stopped to talk to the crowd of how they waited 26 months before they could get back to a live show and were so happy by the turnout and the energy the Orlando crowd brought. But, their performance spoke volumes. You could see they put everything into their show that evening. Marco thumped away at the bass producing some knock you on your ass beats from the speakers. Diego was fast on the guitar riffs, putting his guitar up into the air at times as he played. Richard was fierce on the drums and he completely played up to the photographers with some glares, expressions, and a drumstick point right at your lens (I was lucky to catch one of those). Andrea’s guttural vocals compliment Cristina’s melodic voice so well and he was just so energized and animated that night. You could see how much he missed the stage. And of course, Cristina has such a beautiful voice and she lets those vocals rip during songs and that you can’t help but be amazed by them. Lacuna Coil is phenomenal and their live performances truly show why.
They had a 10 set song list that night that included “Heaven’s a Lie” from Comalies and one of my favorites “Veneficium” from Black Anima. The band will be on tour in the United States until May 3rd before they take off for Canada and then Europe. Catch them if you can! You can pick up their music and merch HERE. Their setlist that night was:
- Blood, Tears, Dust
- Trip the Darkness
- Reckless
- Apocalypse
- Layers of Time
- Heaven’s a Lie
- Save Me
- Veneficium
- Our Truth
- Nothing Stands in Our Way
And then came our headliners Apocalyptica! The Finnish band from Helsinki is one of the most unique acts you’ll ever see. Three classically trained cellists from the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki and a drummer that performs metal. They originally recorded an album of Metallica covers titled Plays Metallica by Four Cellos that immediately put them on the map in the music world. They would go on to 7 more studio albums with a mix of music only and tracks with vocalists. Apocalyptica would have guest vocalists appear on their albums that including Adam Gontier (formerly of Three Days Grace), Gavin Rossdale (Bush), Lacey Sturm, Brent Smith (Shinedown), and Joe Duplantier (Gojira). On their eighth studio album Shadowmaker they used vocalist Franky Perez for the entire album. Apocalyptica consists of Eicca Toppinen (rhythm cello), Perttu Kivilaakso (lead cello), Paavo Lötjönen (bass cello), and Mikko Sirén (drums).
When the lights dimmed for the second time that evening and Apocalyptica took the stage one at a time, they started off in a more haunting classical tune of “Ashes of the Modern World” from Cell-0. But, the song dives into that symphonic metal they do so well and brings you along for the ride for over 6 minutes. The crowd was already amped up from Lacuna Coil and they were eating this up too. They followed with “Path” from their 2000 album Cult. The song brings out that unique blend of classical and metal together showing how much Apocalyptica are rockstars as much as anyone else. When Eicca, Perttu, and Paavo are headbanging to a song like this you know it’s metal. They immediately played directly into “Grace” from their 2007 Worlds Colide. The song is truly a masterpiece of cello where if you took away the drums it sounds like classical music. But add that heavy drumset from Mikko and suddenly it’s a rocking metal tune. Just amazing!
Apocalyptica took a break as Eicca spoke to the crowd on how excited they were to be back in the United States and playing in front of the crowd. And then brought out Franky Perez who joined them on the tour to perform the vocals for some of the songs they did together. This was the first time I got to see them with a vocalist, so this was a thrill. They chose “I’m Not Jesus” also on Worlds Collide. On the original recording it was performed by Corey Taylor of Slipknot and Stone Sour. And let me say, Franky did a phenomenal job with the song and showed the crowd why he’s the vocalist they bring on tour. Franky as a solo artist has 5 studio albums and live he’s spectacular. He has passion, energy, and a hell of a voice.
Honestly, Apocalyptica was just slaying it that night with every song they performed. Eicca gets so into playing whipping his head back and forth, headbanging, and swinging his long blonde hair around. Paavo is the one who truly loves to engage with the crowd. He’s the one making faces to get them to react, waving his arms above his head to get them moving and screaming, and gets lost in the moment when he plays. He truly gets into it all. But, Perttu really plays the rockstar on the stage. He holds his cello like a guitar, and leans it down low as he plays, sometimes even bringing it to the floor. He props up his leg on a speaker and bows the cello as quickly as he can. Mikko is a metal drummer through and through. He bangs away with speed and intent, completely ripping out those sounds as fast as he can go. Together, they are an amazing troupe of musicians who make them and show always to see when they come to down. And the addition of Franky that night was just such an added bonus for the crowd.
They capped off a 17 song setlist with great tunes with Franky like “Shadowmaker” the title track from the 2015 album and the recent single “I’ll Get Through It” which is truly a beautiful song. But, it wouldn’t be an Apocalyptica show if they didn’t play at least some Metallica that night. They did the covers of “Nothing Else Matters” and “Seek and Destroy” letting the crowd sing the lyrics for both. And with “Seek and Destroy” they did a little bit of AC/DC’s “Thunderstruck” which was a nice unexpected surprise. They did an encore wrapping up the show with “Farewell” from their 2005 self-titled album and a cover of Edvard Grieg’s “In The Hall of the Mountain King” that appeared on their album Cult. You can find Apocalyptica’s music and merch HERE. Their setlist that night was:
- Ashes of the Modern World
- Path
- Grace
- I’m Not Jesus (with Franky Perez)
- Not Strong Enough (with Franky Perez)
- Rise
- En Route to Mayhem
- Scream for the Silent
- I’ll Get Through It (with Franky Perez)
- Shadowmaker (with Frank Perez)
- Life Burns! (with Franky Perez)
- I Don’t Care (with Franky Perez)
- Nothing Else Matters (Metallica cover)
- Inquisition Symphony (Sepultura cover)
- Seek & Destroy (Metallica cover followed up with a bit of “Thunderstruck” by AC/DC)
Encore:
- Farewell
- In The Hall of the Mountain King (Edvard Grieg cover)
Overall, this was a spectacular night of wonderful metal music. The Plaza Live crowd loved every minute of this show and so did I. If you still have an opportunity to catch them on tour, absolutely do it without hesitation. Apocalyptica alone is a once in a lifetime experience, but to catch them with Lacuna Coil is truly something special. Phenomenal show and wish I could actually see it again.
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