Italian metallers Lacuna Coil will be releasing their sixth album, Dark Adrenaline, on January 24. While frontwoman Cristina Scabbia may seem like the embodiment of poise and grace, during the band’s more-than-a decade on the road she has found herself in a fair few awkward moments. Here, she recounts her top five for your reading pleasure.

Mic Mishap
“We were playing in San Francisco a few years ago, and the roadies didn’t set the microphone up properly. The stand wasn’t really stable, and it was moving all by itself. The first thing I do when I go onstage is, like, a violent headbang right near the mic stand, but this time my head went right into it. My forehead cut open above the right eye. I was bleeding like hell, but I didn’t realize it. The next thing I know, my face is hot and wet and I don’t know why. I looked at Marco [Coti Zelati, bass], and he just turned white. I put my hand up to my face and it came back red. I didn’t know what to do, so I just hid my face behind my hair and finished the concert. In the end, the cut was not that bad, but I still have a little scar.”

DiGiorgio Who?
“At that same San Francisco show, I was on the bus putting on my makeup before the gig. The other guys were in the venue. The door of the bus opened, and I see this guy with long blond hair walk up. He was obviously not a regular fan, and he asked me where the guys were. Then he says, ‘By the way, I’m Steve.’ So I shook his hand and said, ‘Cristina. Nice to meet you.’ Then he grabbed my hand again and goes, ‘DiGiorgio.’ But I had no idea who he was—I was not familiar with any of his bands [Death, Autopsy, Testament, Iced Earth, Obituary, et al] at that time. So I just said, ‘Scabbia!’ [Laughs] The guys still make fun of me for that one.”

Ponytail Up
“Around the time of Comalies, we were playing in Vienna, Austria. My hair was a little shorter back then, so I was wearing a fake ponytail onstage. At a certain point during the show, I must’ve been headbanging and I didn’t realize that my ponytail just flew away. At the very end of the show, we bowed to the crowd, and as I look down I see what looks like a dead cat. Of course it was the ponytail. Everyone at the show probably saw it fly off.”

Falling Angel
“At the Electric Factory in Philadelphia, I slipped onstage and fell right on my butt. It was a part where I was singing, so I couldn’t stop. Instead of getting up, I just lay down on the stage completely and finished the song. The guys were just looking at me, like, ‘What the fuck are you doing?’ It happened again at Ozzfest not long after that. I actually fell all the way offstage that time. I don’t know how I didn’t break a leg. I probably walk too much onstage, I think. I need to fucking stand still.”

Leaving Las Vegas
“In 2006, we went on tour with Rob Zombie. After the Vegas show, he knocked on the door of our dressing room and tells us that his friend Nic really enjoyed the show and wanted to come and say hi. So he asked if he could bring him into our dressing room for a minute. Of course we said yes. So he calls his friend in, and Nicolas Cage appears at the door of the dressing room. It was one of those moments where you don’t know if you are on Candid Camera or what. We just looked at each other like, ‘That’s fucking Nicolas Cage!’ It was awkward, but fantastic.”

Taken from: Revolvermag.com
Text by: Jason Le Miere
Photo: Katja Kuhl