EMI Studios: Paris: 16/02/06

So it’s stupid o’clock in the fucking morning, I’m awake and I’m on a fucking train, happy Thursdays, but this train is bound for glory, this train takes me into the heart of the UK’s capital city, to… Get another fucking train; this could be a long day…

So Waterloo, how does it feel, we won the war! Well Eurostar now can take you from the heart of London to the heart of Paris in four hours, not bad, but you still need a fucking good excuse to go to France! So there are fourteen of us going to Paris to see a showcase from rising Italian Rock act Lacuna Coil the band who has made massive inroads into the Metal/Rock fraternity over the last twelve months, but it seems now is their time to step up a gear, we shall see if it’s possible…

So it’s 12:09 and we are leaving London, the drinks and the ‘Pringles’ flow, talk of music, sex and football fills the air, we arrive in Paris mid-afternoon, get to the hotel, within five minutes of putting down my bag, the phone rings, “Hey JJ, we are going to go and check out the bars, get your act together!” So three of us hit the streets of Paris, oh the French! After several ‘Biers’ we get back to the hotel, to get on a bus! This ‘bus’ takes us into Paris central and the offices of Virgin/EMI which houses a venue; and a fucking good one at that; we hang around and then without a fanfare Lacuna Coil appear and give us two songs from previous albums ‘Heavens A Lie’ and ‘Swamped.’ The major surprise is that these are delivered acoustically, and boy do they work; the stripped-down sound showcases the vocal delivery and really does show how good these songs are; the band then leave the stage promising to return and “Rock the place.”

Fifteen minutes pass before it’s lights out and the full band with full set-up precedes to ‘Rip Paris A New Arsehole!’- this band is ravenous! This is an industry affair, often very difficult to transfer over to the audience situ, but Lacuna Coil play as if it’s a room full of fans. They give 100%, nothing more, for there is no more! But more importantly, nothing less, from the ‘Intro’ into ‘Fragile’ it’s clear that they mean business; the sound is clear and the band hit the ground running. ‘To The Edge’ and ‘Our Truth’ follow, and they sound like the best songs of the bands career so far; heartfelt vocals, harsh guitars with a swirling emotional feel; they certainly go for it, playing as if their life depended on it, no holds barred. ‘Our Truth’ is already ripping Rock Club dance floors apart all over the UK - it’s sing-along entry and exit make it a ‘Lacuna Classic in waiting.

The band has really honed in on its craft; they have made their mistakes, learned from them; they have toured so much that they now play as one solid unit. This becomes evident on the next two songs, ‘Closer’ and ‘The Game’ when the band start to hit their stride. Andrea and Cristina really start to stretch their vocals, they are warmed up and really delivering the goods, as both guitars start to catch fire with Chris and Maus really letting fly at this point. Bass player Marco just drives the whole thing along while being so in-tune with the thunderous drums which CriZ seems to want to destroy, and then, in a flash, they tell us it’s time to go and they have one final song. But that song is a surprise, it’s a cover of ‘Enjoy The Silence’ by Depeche Mode. I have no idea why they play this, but I guess they love the band and certainly they can deliver a fine version of the song. It’s a fitting end to a quite superb set that rubberstamps the band’s position as ‘One to Watch’ and so much more. Tonight’s live set proves that this is their time and they have the songs to match the anticipation surrounding their next record. Speaking to some of the European Media present, nobody has a bad word to say, words such as ‘Awesome’, ‘Amazing’ normally preceded by the word ‘Fucking’ abound around the hall. And I can do nothing but nod my head in agreement, if ever there was a band ready to ‘Step Up’ this is it.

So we leave the hall to go ‘Next Door’ where there is a room overflowing with food and beer - ‘Fucking Game On!’ We devour as much as possible, talking bollocks and just getting drunk, the band appear and one by one they stop and have a chat. It’s evident that they are so grounded; they shake your hand with confidence, they talk to you with plenty of eye contact; there is no ‘I just have to go over there’ syndrome, hell even the owner of the bands label stops for a chat - how cool is that? He, along with the band, are happy with the new record. I tell them they are in a ‘Window Of Time’ that will never be repeated and to be ready for the next twelve months. They reply with ‘We’ll See,’ they are charming and pleasant; it’s a welcome change for sure; and they just are happy to hang and chat. Andrea tells me that he enjoyed the show and is looking forward to coming to the UK in March and that the band are hoping to play the Download festival. He then joins in a ‘Table Football’ tournament that seems to have kicked off; boys will be boys and all that… I take the time to chat to Cristina who is ‘happy with the show’ and ‘hoping that the new album is received well.’ The champagne gets brought out, so that gets quaffed down, and then we are taken out to get back on the bus we say our goodbyes and every band member says, ‘See You In England’ - it’s a nice touch…

So we get back on the bus, to end up at the hotel, it’s around eleven-ish, drink has this way of distorting time, some of the crew head off to bed, but most of us head off in search of some late night action. We find a few bars, drink plenty of fluid (I’m sure nowhere in this city sells anything apart from that French 1645 or whatever the fucking year it was) time rolls on and before I know it, it’s 4am and I’m fucking slaughtered. I don’t remember going to bed, but I do remember waking up! What a great way to end a great night…



**page*



Morning comes, but not before getting up to take a piss at 6am and seeing an almost full moon over the Eiffel Tower directly out of my rooms window, an awesome sight, even seen drunk… So it’s into the lobby for some breakfast, Ham & Jam and French Bread, the crew assemble one by one, some of us more worse for wear than others, then it’s off to ‘Paris Du Nord’ train station to once again head back ‘Home.’ The trip home is full of great stories from the night before, Euro’s get re-christened ‘Europe’s’ and they now forever will be for all of us. I’m sure, arriving at Waterloo we all go our separate ways, back to the day job, it’s another train journey for me, three hours to get back ‘Up North.’ Friday night rolls around and it’s time to roll into the club for the start of another killer weekend in Liverpool, but the memory of Paris will remain for a long time and Lacuna Coil will deliver one of the ‘Rock Albums’ of 2006. If you see them on tour, wherever you are reading this, the band support Rob Zombie through March in America, then will play mainland Europe and hopefully embark on a full UK tour in the Autumn, look out for them, they are ‘On Fire’ seven words spring to mind: ‘Miss Them And You Will Miss Out.’

BIG thanks must go to Mark from EMI for inviting me and looking after me so well, also to, Dave and Adam from Century Media Records. Massive hello to everyone else on the trip, great to meet you, hope to see you again, no names, no shames, this was a ‘Rock N Roll Weekend’ on a fucking Thursday, Fucking A+

Jj – 2006

Set List: