Devin Townsend Project 

w/ Contrive
The Enmore Theatre, Sydney – 13th March 2010

The day had come. It was time to finally see Canada’s most absurd, loveable and intellectual metal musician come for a visit to our fine lands. I was never fortunate enough to be into any of Devin’s music at the times he came with Strapping Young Lad; something I am very disappointed about. It was almost the case that I was going to miss out on this show too for financial reasons, however this wonderful opportunity to review his show came up and I could not be more grateful.

Upon seeing the release information for the gig on Metal Obsession, I was a bit unsure as to how Contrive were able to secure such a reputable support slot as the music I had heard of them in the past was rather unimpressive and a bit of a stylistic mismatch for playing with the almighty Townsend. I was definitely going attend the show on time to give them a fair evaluation as I wanted to give the gig a comprehensive assessment and having a single three-piece band taking care of the opening slot was anathema to me considering the monumental and obliterating wall of sound Devy is responsible for. It turns out they had their last record produced etc. by the Hevy one, so I guess this was a matter of establishing good connections on their part.

I’ve got to say, from the moment they came on stage, I was little bit disappointed by the sound (how original of a comment, hey?). The idea of a three-piece band often worries me as I only find them to be successful when the layering and songwriting is in a real special place, whether this be by utilising samples live or just being truly innovative. Bands that spring to mind in being able to do this well are Rush, ELP and even Nirvana. I don’t want to watch a small band and have to make concessions for their sonic texture being boring just because they decided to keep the lineup concise. Sadly, I did find the layering and songwriting to be a complete bore for the first half of the gig. The bass parts did not seem to add much to the powerchord driven guitar lines, which left me feeling highly disatisfied as the music was initially supplemented by nothing more than monotonous gutteral vocals and very static shouts.

Coming from a Progressive Rock/Metal background, I love to feel part of a grand atmosphere or vibe when watching a live set. I was pleased to see Andrew Haug (who by all means was the standout of the show) using a midi pad to trigger some samples in between his brother’s guitar changes. It was nice to see some effort made so that we didn’t have to look at two people awkwardly detracting from what should be a commanding presence on the Enmore Theater stage between songs. Although the trio looked like they were on a stage that was too large for them, which is probably due to the size of their personnel – there was good band interaction and the guys do what they do in a tight and unified fashion. I suppose the problem is I just don’t like what they do very much. The dynamics and builds within all the songs are so clearly controlled by the prowess of the drumming, so much so that often the bass and guitar parts feel as though they are lacking class and variation comparatively. The two tracks they identified by name, ‘Hope’ and ‘Internal Dialogue’ were definitely the high points, involving some voice overs and interesting clean guitar passages with some melodic vocals not too dissimilar in delivery to some of Dev’s own. The band was better than I remembered them sounding, even as recent as the last Opeth tour. Perhaps this is a sign of improvement – let’s hope so.

After a short wait and an impeccable changeover – Devin Townsend was on stage at 9 o’clock on the dot. Great work organisers, I truly thought this was one of the smoothest and most professionally run gigs I have seen. As Captain Chromedome and his self proclaimed tight-and-smelly sphincter came on stage, the rest of the crowd and I cheered frantically awaiting our minds to be blown by his unique, profane and timelessly charismatic presence.

Quite appropriately the set opened with the title track from the Devin Townsend Project‘s latest release ‘Addicted!’. We all knew we were in for a treat as we were pummeled by a distinctly heavy brand of addictive (lol) material which was delivered in a razor tight fashion held together by perfoming live to a click track evidenced by the use of headphones, in-ear monitors and a superb backing track captivating the original goodness of many vocal layers and industrial elements which make Devin’s material so immediately recognisable. ‘Supercrush!’ was an absolute joy to hear live with all of Anneke’s vocal parts preserved on the backing track. The chorus was absolute huge and the band sounded so tight and locked in. I really won’t be saying much in the way of negativity about Devy’s set except for perhaps if you didn’t go – kill yourself before you clue into what you missed out on. Every song was a masterpiece of live onslaught corrupted only partially at times by some of the tools that surrounded me in the audience. ‘Kingdom’ was pure etherial goodness and furthering the monolithic crushing sound already experienced and to come. As Devin sung the chorus of “Stay with me, Play with me”, I closed my eyes as if being transcended to a better place. ‘Truth’ and ‘OM’, the way that people are used to hearing these two songs took great advantage of the beautiful lush picked Devy lines I absolutely love with the HUGE choir laden layers and chordal moments that can be heard on much of SYL’s material. I didn’t really know much about the setlists that Devin usually plays about I have always loved ‘Deadhead’ so I was wishing that he would play this song. Apparently it’s a rare song live and for this I am glad that Sydney was lucky enough to witness it. For such a crass yet intellectually perverse character, Devin constructs music that is divine in nature. I felt schizophrenic moments when Devin sung his more theatrical boomy clean vocals that alluded to a religious experience, it was as if a God was commanding his followers. What a performer! What a musician! What an amazing experience!

It was heartwarming to hear Devin’s mid and between song banters, which really put a huge grin on my face. This was especially amazing when we could hear that Ziltoid had made a Sydney specific appearance, which showed that the Devin Townsend Project truly tries to make every night in every city a special one. The trifecta of Ziltoid material made me sing along and bang my head something severe. ‘Seventh Wave’ was another great inclusion to the set and had everyone singing along fervently with the chorus. I have a real respect for musical acts segueing songs in their chronological order from their respective albums. For this reason, it was great to hear ‘Life’ proceed from ‘Seventh Wave’ even though it’s not one of my favourite Devin tracks. His pashion felt and visceral vocal perfomance made it an absolute joy to witness though.

On a slightly non-musical point, it’s quite interesting to hear how phallically obsessed the old Devy is. I never thought it would be so humorous to be told “Suck a dick, babies!” at least 5 times in a night, but it was.

The absolute highlight of the set was the next song which I was absolutely praying for, ‘Earth Day’. I absolutely love the album Terria. It takes me on a journey to a far away place of lush and profound wonder. Hearing everyone sing “Recycle” with their whole core was an amazing live experienced to be immersed in.

Once again it was nice to hear Anneke’s beautiful vocals on the backing track of ‘Numbered!’. It’s a great sign of Devin’s competence as a live performer to hear such a catchy album’s songs performed as a 4 piece with such an encapsulating presence. ‘Disruptr’ was an absolutely manic performance which was joined by its assaulting sibling ‘Namaste’ whose sheer double kick fury reminded me of Gene Hoglan mollesting a Sonata Arctica set at a festival on Uranus. That last sentence is evidence enough of the trauma of awesomeness it provided me with.

It was now break time but we all knew that they’d be back on any minute and what better way to do it than by a double serving of Ziltoid material with ‘Colour Your World’, which has some of the best chord sequences by Devin “Human Arpeggiator” Townsend and ‘The Greys’. By this stage I was really realising that this was an epically long set. Things worked down a little bit into a mellow musical space where Dev did a solo rendition of Ki with backing tracks. How does this man sing like this after seemingly tearing his throat in half song after song. The ending was simply incredible – this man is superhuman. The set ended with ‘Bend It Like Bender!’, which is not one of my favourite songs but I can see how he would want to end the set with a single song that is more accesible.

Devin is one of my musical heroes, so I can’t speak from an unbiased perspective, however, this really was one of my favourite live experiences. Devin is something that has to be experienced to be believed. This concert was pure wow factor provided by a one in six or so billion character and a super tight band. I just wish he played an Acoustic set in Sydney too. Good game, Melbourne.

Setlist:
1. Addicted!
2. Supercrush!
3. Kingdom
4. Truth
5. OM
6. Deadhead
7. ZTO
8. By Your Command
9. Ziltoidia Attaxx!!!
10. Seventh Wave
11. Life
12. Earth Day
13. Numbered
14. Disruptr
15. Namaste
Encore
16. Color Your World
17. The Greys
18. Ki
19. Bend It Like Bender!

Reviewed by Dougie