Jodie Jodie Roger
Here to kick off this incredible lineup of noise performers is Jodie Jodie Roger, an incredible and eccentric queer artist based in Montreal. They stepped onto the stage with a huge anime mask covering their face and kept it on for their entire set. Jodie had no problem connecting with the crowd, their fun and creative personality shining through quite genuinely.
Jodie made the crowd laugh and dance as wildly as they wanted. They heavily encouraged their audience to dance with them, even jumping in the crowd and guiding the crowd to mosh along to their music.
Their lyrics were very interesting as well, very humorous and sharply edged as well. With a little research I learned that they retell a lot of stories about their own alter egos, and if there’s one thing about me, I love a good alter ego.
Despite the crowd being fairly small so early in the night, Jodie Jodie Roger kept the energy super high, and was an incredible first opener for this show.
Dreamcrusher
Now, this set was insane! Dreamcrusher started off their set demanding that every black person in attendance make their way to the front. “It’s Black History Month, motherfuckers,” they stated and motioned for people to move out of the way.
Dreamcrusher’s set was covered in strobing lights, flashing so fast that everyone’s movement looked like stop motion. It was crazy. The entire room was dark, and no other lights were put on save for the strobing lights. Gave me a slight headache, but honestly, it was worth it. It looked incredible.
I’m a little disappointed that we couldn’t hear a single one of their lyrics. I could see that they were screaming in the microphone, but their noise beats were so loud that the crowd just couldn’t hear anything else.
Nonetheless, Dreamcrusher’s set was a whole lot of fun. People danced like crazy to the unearthly sounds blaring from the speakers, Dreamcrusher had even jumped down in the crowd as well, joining their audience in dance. Just such a fantastic addition to this lineup.
BACKXWASH
Finally, the time came for BACKXWASH to leave her spot in the audience and take the stage for herself. I had seen her last year when she opened for JPEGMafia, and jumped at the next opportunity I could take to see her headline her own show, tonight as part of the Taverne Tour festival. Oh man, does BACKXWASH never disappoint?!
She sported her classic white face paint, smiling so brightly when her audience cheered like crazy for her. She didn’t miss a single beat, effortlessly keeping up with the flow of her songs. She does it so well, she makes it look so easy.
Her audience of fans were going nuts for her; each track generated screams and claps as people recognized each song on her setlist. As people moshed along to her music, they looked out for each other, making sure if someone fell, they were picked up immediately.
BACKXWASH played a very extensive setlist, with plenty of incredible tracks off her latest record, His Happiness Shall Come First Even Though We Are Suffering, released in 2022, along with fan favourites such as Devil in a Mosh Pit.
Everything she did was ethereal and captivating. I just could not take my eyes off her as her lyrics spilled out from her lips. She really had the entire crowd in deep amazement. Her fans have so much love for her, and she is very clearly so grateful for them all and all the support that they give her art.
BACKXWASH is an incredibly genuine artist, raw with emotion and so insanely talented. Her music is constantly challenging societal norms and truly paving the way for black and queer artists out there. She’s undeniably revolutionary, and dammit, if you’ve never seen one of her shows before, then you should absolutely run to her next one. It’ll truly put her music into perspective.
Review – Jamie Siddall
Photos – Steve Gerrard
