Ad Infinitum + Seven Spires + TULIP @ Foufounes Electriques▪

On February 11th, Ad Infinitum brought their European tour mates TULIP and Seven Spires through Montreal’s legendary Foufounes Electriques. This tour was taking place shortly after both Spires and Ad Infinitum had come off the 70,000 Tonnes of Metal cruise, but they both were in fine form that night.

It was an odd night as one of two local photographers that had shown up. I showed up early so I could prepare for the night, and when I showed up, the doormen had informed me that Foufounes Electriques, which for ages had been pretty much a free-for-all with the media-accredited photographers, had started enforcing rules. I was allowed and required to shoot from the balcony for the first three songs, after which the house lighting guy let us know it was time to leave. While I was talking to him when I had shown up, I thought early enough, I was caught off guard by TULIP starting at 7:30pm when all listed set times had the noise starting at 8pm.

The transplanted Canadian-Texan couple of Ashleigh Semkiw and Colin Parrish that leads TULIP have a great dynamic between Ashleigh’s operatic voice and Colin’s harsh vocals. The band kicked off the night with a tribute to a Ukrainian hero with their song, “Ghost of Kyiv”. As I said, the first few notes of the song had caught me off guard, but the crowd was quickly vibing with this lesser-known outfit. When it came to their fifth song of the night, which was a cover of Katy Perry’s Dark Horse, Ashleigh was joking that they had invited the singer’s boyfriend, but wasn’t sure that he was in the audience.

Setlist

Ghost of Kyiv

The Perpetual Dream

Midnight in the Desert

Near Death

Dark Horse

Assassins

Gemini

When Adrienne Cowan joined her bandmates of Seven Spires on stage to start Songs Upon Wine-Stained Tongues, it seemed like the sizeable crowd (I could still move around easily in it later) had fully locked in for the set. I had seen Seven Spires before at Mad With Power 6 in Madison, WI, so I was ready for this set up until the guest vocalist appeared during Love’s Souvenir. During that song, Ashleigh Semkiw appeared as the soothing operatic voice to heighten the dramatic performance that Adrienne was giving on stage.

Throughout the set, Adrienne’s movements reflected what the mood of the song was, shifting from sad through calm to angry as the music dictated, as if she were acting out her inner theatre kid performing a metal opera. I would love to see another headlining set from Seven Spires, as this shortened set had felt too short with the seven songs performed, but maybe that’s the effect of the first performance I saw from them was a headlining set at a festival. I was there for this band, and I think they stole part of the show. I don’t think I was alone in that sentiment, as I saw a few of the local regulars fade a little bit further from the stage after Seven Spires’ set.

Setlist

A Fortress Called Home

Songs Upon Wine-Stained Tongues

Every Crest

Architect of Creation

Choices

Love’s Souvenir

Dare to Live

Wanderer’s Prayer

Gods of Debauchery

This was Ad Infinitum’s first North American headlining tour, and I can see some of their popularity. Melissa Bonny has a wonderful voice, and the band has a groove. It was evident during Ad Infinitum’s set that the tour package was a tight-knit crew from their European tours, as both Ashleigh and Adrienne joined as part of a song each.

With this being a Wednesday night show, I was already flagging and tired halfway through the set on a work night. It was a great set, but it didn’t keep my interest fully. They definitely kept it light, as they brought their own high-powered LED lights for the stage and their own lighting technician for the tour, so I got some good shots. The full set of 20 songs was long for someone who didn’t know their full catalogue off by heart.