By the time Backxwash stepped on stage—white face paint, black gothic dress, and a grin wide enough to knock the roof off the Society for Arts and Technology—it was already creeping toward 11pm. Although it was a late slot for a release show, the witching hour felt perfectly appropriate. Backxwash’s music has always been rooted in the shadows, but her new album, Only Dust Remains, explores new frontiers. Tonight’s performance was less about pure exorcism and more about transformation.
Brazilian-Canadian singer-songwriter Fernie welcomed the audience into the evening with a smooth and velvety R&B set. His vocals were warm and textured, with a stage presence that leaned more “chill friend at the jam session” than showboating performer. “Pain,” his collaboration with Patrick Watson, hit a tender note and was a standout. No big gestures, just a beautifully understated moment that held the room.
Magella followed, her experimental electronics shattering any notion of tranquillity. Her set was all glitches and loops, occasionally reminding me of classic Portishead—like a cyborg processing heartbreak through a broken vocoder. I’d discovered her opening for Allison Russell back in 2022 and was impressed then, but tonight, performing without a band, her set was even more evocative and confident. Sonically worlds apart, both openers found receptive ears in a crowd clearly open to the unexpected.
Still, the night was always about Backxwash. For all her intensity on record, she radiates joy between songs—grinning ear to ear, bowing gratefully, visibly moved by the waves of cheers crashing toward her. However, when the music begins, it transforms into a completely different experience. She performed flawlessly throughout the entire set. Her delivery was so tight, so surgically on-point, it was easy to forget how breathless her tracks actually are.
Only Dust Remains marks a shift. The distortion-heavy chaos of earlier albums hasn’t vanished, but it now sits beside gospel textures, eerie ambiance, and a lyrical maturity that hits harder than any blast beat. On tracks like “9th Heaven” and “Wake Up,” those elements collide in a way that’s more cinematic than confrontational, like the soundtrack to a horror film that also wants to heal you. Visuals projected on the large screens on either side of the stage helped drive that point home, enhancing not just the atmosphere but the meaning behind the music.
Tonight, Backxwash tore through the set with unwavering energy; her voice moved between snarled lines and breathless urgency, always landing with purpose. The performance was tight and polished, and, at just under an hour, it ended far too soon. As usual, she performed solo for almost the entire set, only breaking when Fernie, Magella, Morgan-Paige and pet wife joined her onstage, creating an impromptu collective that turned the song into something richer, fuller, and entirely of the moment.
The crowd, not ready to say goodbye, refused to stop cheering until she returned to play “Wake Up” again—an unplanned encore that felt more like a communal decision than a performer’s choice. The mosh pit erupted one last time before the lights made it clear—this time, the night really was over. One fan at the barrier handed her a bouquet—a quiet gesture that lit up her already beaming face.
Five shows in, I’ve never seen Backxwash phone it in. But this one felt different—more ambitious, more expansive, more her. If Only Dust Remains is a funeral for her past selves, then this performance was the resurrection.
Review & photos – Steve Gerrard
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