0m:22s. Man, it’s good to see you. This must be the airship. And are these your fellow crew. Where are we headed?
I love that feeling when the headliner takes the stage and everything just goes up a notch… sonics, lighting, energy, stage presence. That is indeed what happened when L.A.’s Will Wiesenfeld, AKA Baths hit the lights. The peculiar stage setup of two yellow metal workbenches filled with synths and controllers, slid way to stage right, would begin to make sense as the show progressed.
These lines, from the track Yeoman from 2017’s Romaplasm, draw the crowd in, and they don’t go back. In fact, the stage packs in more and more with each song. The second song Miasma Sky seals the deal…the fans are hooked. The set ebbs and flows with drifters like Human Bog, hits like Lovely Bloodflow that draw the screams and freakouts like Adam Copies, which made me exhausted just watching. This tune is like something out of an old video game, but rushed along at about 185bpm and culminating in granulated, verbed out screamo…awesome!!! Also to be noted were the more sensitive numbers and the numerous make-out sessions in the crowd that they inspired…a true attestation to the mood created in the room. And by this point, the unusual stage set up makes sense…leaving Baths with his very own dance floor to explore when he grabs the mic and lets loose.
On to his performance partner, I’m not always sure what knob turners on stage are actually doing, but tweaker Morgan Greenwood, from Calgary, seemed to be “playing” the mix. Each twist, push, tap and pull seems to release a firestorm of sonic ear candy, some of it downright ear jolting or bone-rattling. As a guitarist and gearhead myself, I suspend any judgement, because whatever he’s doing is utterly captivating to the ears and eyes.
Will does his share of mixing as well, in addition to laying down thick pad parts or wandering synth lead melodies. But some of his coolest moments come when he detaches from the gear tether. He whips his glasses off, grabs the mic, and proceeds to move (dance) thrash the likes more of a metal singer than an electronic producer. When the last trails fade out, the classically trained singer says something about not being a hardcore outfit. But as that last track layered up with ferocious thrashing and hardcore screams, one could suspend disbelief and see the possible confusion.
I think we also love those sort of uncomfortable moments in many a Montreal show where performers try to express themselves in French. Often, it’s cute, and I think it’s genuinely appreciated by the Montreal crowds. So no dig here, but counting to ten and then saying je suis fatigué, having driven all night to get ahead of a nasty April Toronto ice storm checked off all the boxes in one fell swoop.
Pseudo-encore track No Eyes slams the room as the db’s are eased up a bit to accentuate the climax of the set. Those snare hits…drill the brain. The break at about 2 minutes 30 is like being sucked into a black hole in slow motion. From the first beat back in, the crowd knows it and prepares their pipes to help sing along…
And it is not a matter of
If you mean it
But it is only a matter of
Come and fuck me
And it is not a matter of
If you love me
But it is only a matter of
My fix. (2x)
Montreal 3-piece No Joy, built the juice leading up to Baths. With a raucously sweet shoegaze set full of overdrive pedal and downstrummed 1/8ths, No Joy is channeling all kinds of 90s goodness in this show with many of the electronic blips and bloops being set aside for the evening. But comparisons be damned. It doesn’t matter. They convince. Jasamine White-Gluz and Laura Lloyd assume guitar hero positions and rock those classic octave bends on the killer Slug Night. Dreamy, verbed out vocals get a little lost in all the guitar mid-range, but the texture and feel are still quite effective. If only I could drink whiskey and stay up until 3 am, this would be perfect.
Sasami, Los Angeles multi-instrumentalist and producer, performed a solo set to a quiet but as usual, very attentive and polite Montreal crowd. With a reputation as all-around musical badass, she took the stage in that effect to tackle the challenge of being up there “naked” on stage…just her voice and a single cherry red electric guitar. She kills ’em with kindness, by reciprocating sentiment and inviting the crowd into her personal space at the front of the stage. Then gives ’em a subtle snack by announcing, this song is about fucking and getting fucked. Bring it!
Review and photos – Thomas Bock
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