Getting intimate with "The Hottest Chicks in Metal

LACUNA COIL
WITHIN TEMPTATION
IN THIS MOMENT
STOLEN BABIES

Jaxx
Springfield, VA
May 11, 2007

When it was announced that Lacuna Coil would be headlining the Revolver-sponsored “Hottest Chicks in Metal Tour,” I immediately thought, “What a great idea!” And not entirely because of these women's beautiful looks, which have made it into the dreams of several thousand male fans over the years, but because this is a subgenre of metal longing for recognition in the United States. Over the years, there have been several great female-fronted metal acts, and, no, I'm not talking about Lita Ford or Vixen. Lacuna Coil, Within Temptation, Nightwish, Tristania, Theatre of Tragedy and The Gathering (who is playing select dates on the tour), to name a few, all have emerged in the last decade from outside of the United States, carving a path for females in the future of metal. Now, of course, all of these bands are not featured, but given Lacuna Coil's recent explosion in the United States in the last few years, the subgenre is slowly but surely making it's way over here. This marks the first American tour for Holland's Within Temptation

The tour came to Jaxx nightclub in Springfield, Va., about as intimate as any of us are going to get with Cristina Scabbia, Within Temptation's Sharon den Adel or In This Moment's Maria Brink. The club itself is in an odd location. It's part of a strip mall and only holds about 400 to 500 people. Lacuna Coil has, of course, played in front of thousands of fans, and the same goes for Within Temptation, who has played dozens of festivals throughout Europe. So a small, intimate setting like this is even more special for fans of these arena-ready acts.

Stolen Babies opened the show, with their “hottest chick” being the eclectic Dominique Persi. Powdered up with some burlesque-type makeup, she screamed and moaned her way through a set of horror-ska-punk with a little bit of a Willy Wonka feel. They were surely different. Think Portrait of an American Family-era Marilyn Manson combined with The Horropops. The crowd didn't exactly know what to think, but they were given an enthusiastic response nonetheless.

Maria Brink is the “Hottest Chick” and singer for metalcorriors In This Moment. This band was probably the most out of place on the bill, but they helped make it a more diverse package. They have more in common with Killswitch Engage than any goth-metal acts. Packed with furious riffs and Otep-like screams, In This Moment got the crowd moving on a few occasions but were perhaps a little too heavy for the Lacuna Coil crowd. Brink thrashed and swung her curly blond locks onstage, while wearing a cute little dress. She actually has a good singing voice as evident on “Beautiful Tragedy,” the title track from their debut album. Century Media is behind this band big time and they are playing this year's “free” Ozzfest, so big things could be in store for them.

Having seen Lacuna Coil several times before, I was most looking forward to Within Temptation. I had the privilege of interviewing their “Hottest Chick,” Sharon den Adel a few hours earlier (READ INTERVIEW HERE). The band has been around for more than 10 years now, but this is their first U.S. tour. Their latest album, The Heart of Everything is already out in Europe and will be released in America on July 24, 2007. Sharon den Adel is a awe-inspiring vocalist, and, yes, she is very hot. She has more range than Cristina and is years beyond Evanescence's Amy Lee, even if the styles are sometimes compared. Her stage presence is unmatched, and the most important thing is that she truly is enjoying herself performing. Sharon grinned from ear to ear throughout the set, her smile no doubt largely inspired by the fantastic crowd response. At times, it seemed like Within Temptation was the headlining act. I can't stress enough how great her and the band's performance was. Their sound was one of the absolute best I've heard in a long long time, which makes sense since they've been at it for many years now. And judging from fan response and recent Internet posts, they won over many fans this night, so just think how many coverts they will have by the end of the tour.

Sharon actively pursued crowd participation, with her hands in the air, even letting a lucky fan in the front row sing Keith Caputo's part in “What Have you Done Now.” She even led the crowd, jumping up and down in her gown to the band's classic, “Ice Queen.” Between songs, she thanked everyone on numerous occasions for their support and explained that both “Mother Earth” and “The Heart of Everything” were inspired by the movie Braveheart. “Mother Earth” was the highlight of the set. If you have any reservations about going just for Lacuna Coil, drop them, because Within Temptation alone is worth the ticket price. Watch out for a full tour later on this year.

WITHIN TEMPTATION SET LIST: Our Solemn Hour, What Have You Done Now, Stand My Ground, Frozen, The Howling,
The Heart of Everything, Mother Earth, Ice Queen

The hottest chick in metal? Most likely. Cristina Scabbia is a ball of energy onstage, with a straight-to-the point, no-nonsense attitude for churning out the hits. Like I said, I had seen Lacuna Coil before, so I knew what to expect. But that didn't affect my opinion on their performance. The last few years of touring have truly crafted the band into a compact unit. Everything was completely in sync and they sounded mature—years beyond their 9:30 am performance at Ozzfest 2004. Of course, I had never seen several songs performed live before, this being their first U.S. headlining tour. The material from Karmacode translates even heavier live and definitely has a bouncy Korn feel. It mixes effectively with Cristina's and Andrea Ferro's vocals. Ferro sure has come a long way. He has never been an outstanding vocalist, but his parts are needed for the essence of the Lacuna Coil sound, and he sounded better tonight than I had ever seen him. I wish I could describe more in detail about Cristina onstage, but from where I was it was difficult to see her fully. She's very hot, but kind of short. The Lacuna Coil staples were all here: “Swamped, ”Heaven's a Lie” and a bulk of songs from Karmacode, including “Closer,” “To the Edge” and the set closer, “Our Truth.” The band actually held an online poll to choose their set list, resulting in rare but great songs such as “Senzafine” and “In Visible Light.”

I've actually seen some stupid and negative remarks regarding the name of the tour. OK so this tour has a few of the hottest chicks in metal, but it's about the music, right? (Well, mostly.) I think it's important to get more females involved in the scene and this tour is great, giving Within Temptation much needed exposure and further cementing Lacuna Coil as a near-mainstream act. As I mentioned above, there are many great female-fronted acts. Could this turn into an annual tour? Even though the audience was still two thirds male, this is substantially better than the usual 20-to-1 male-to-female ratio at most metal shows. This is great for the genre and even better for us male metal fans.

LACUNA COIL SET LIST: To the Edge, Fragments of Faith, Swamped, Closer, Senzafine, In Visible Light Fragile, Within Me, To Live Is to Hide, Daylight Dancer, Enjoy the Silence, My Wings, (encore), You Create/What I See, Heaven's a Lie, Our Truth