There was a certain air to the most recent metal show to shake the MTelus walls. Right before kicking off his Powernerd tour, Devin Townsend announced he’d be taking an extended break from touring altogether after this run. This provided the perfect opportunity for people like me to finally witness the live show behind the industry legend.
Starting things off for us that night was none other than Tesseract. I was blown away by the UK band’s live show once before in 2018, and they’ve only further perfected their live show since. Their droning, polyrhythmic passages provided the perfect foundation for lead singer Daniel Tompkins to shine. He absolutely delivered on the vocal front, delivering intense screams, emotional low notes, and soaring highs, sometimes all within an impossibly short period of time. He put his body into it as well, choreographing moves perfectly timed with the oddly placed accents, as the crowd was headbanging along trying to find the 1. Drummer Jay Postones’ kit sounded massive too, and his busy tom fills between calculated cymbal hits were certainly doing something for every prog-loving metalhead in the audience that night.
The moments Tompkins addressed the audience were few and far between, but his messaging was powerful. He thanked Devin on behalf of the band for taking them out on their first run 15 years ago, and certainly appreciated the full circle moment now. The crowd continued to resonate with the dream-inducing heavy music, and finally exploded into an enthusiastic pit during the second half of the band’s hour-long opening set.
After a half-hour changeover, Devin Townsend’s band walked out, followed shortly by the man himself, running out with both arms up to the goofiest walkout music I’ve heard. The man’s energy is undeniable. In proper Devin Townsend fashion, he took his powerhouse of a voice and musical virtuosity to all the corners you would expect of a career-spanning set—Strapping Young Lad covers, rock and roll, power ballads, and songs that sound right at home in a piece of musical theatre. Between the music and the iconic facial expressions, Devin expressed adoration for our presence tonight and support through the years.
There were beautiful moments of sincerity through the jokes and cornball behaviour, but the tongue-in-cheek moments were certainly appreciated. Even through a couple of technical difficulties, Devin kept a level head and navigated those moments with the perfect balance of humour and professionalism. He really was all smiles and waves when he wasn’t shredding one of his many guitars, leaving his performance feeling like a proper victory lap for a man that more than deserves an extended break after more than 30 years in the game.
“If you’re here, you’re not cool,” were the words spoken by Devin Townsend himself. The amount of camp that bled through all the musical proficiency proved that metal is worth having fun with. He ended his set with “Bad Devil,” and the floor turned into chaos one last time, to the sound of a swingin’ southern metal dance party. Though I’m not sure when we’ll see Devin in this city again, I doubt the Canadian legend is done with music altogether. I can’t wait to see what other projects he puts his name to in the future, as he enjoys his time off the road.
Review – Mathieu Perrier
Watch our interview with Devin Townsend below:
