ABSTRACT
Mina Caputo (born 1973), vocalist of the long-running alternative metal band Life of Agony 1 from New York, enters the stage at the Alcatraz Metal Festival in Kortrijk, Belgium, on 8 August 2014. The other members of the band are already in their places, and ominous, deep guitar and bass drones well up from the amplifiers. She walks to the front of the stage, claps her hands above her head a couple of times and pauses, staring straight at the audience, before grasping her breast for a second or two in a pose that communicates pride and audacity. The audience cheers, whistles and shouts. She blows them kisses while guitarist Joey Z roars in his distinctive, broken voice: “Let’s fucking do this shit together tonight”. Caputo has taken the microphone and writhes around it as she has done for 25 years in performing with the band. The first song is ‘River Runs Red’ and is one of the band’s most famous. It begins with furious drumming, overpowering guitar noise and suicidal lyrics, which Caputo rhythmically delivers in a piercing tone: “I got the razor at my wrist, ‘cause I can’t resist” (LOA 2014).
