Fans gathered and clung to the railings of the front row in preparation for headliners and 80’s industrial pioneers SKINNY PUPPY to hit the stage last Saturday night. You could feel the anticipation tightening up the stomachs of the Montreal crowd as they clenched their fists in the air, saluting Los Angeles-based YOUTH CODE as they stormed the stage first. Bouncing around in a fierce punk fury, lead singer Sarah Taylor’s vocals were piercing (in all the right ways) and well received by the crowd. Her unforgettable shirt read “SHOT BY COPS” as a timely response to recent headlines in the states.
Next up was German electro-industrial group Haujobb. Their set brought the energy level to HIGH as they powered through 5 songs, packing each one with a punch of energy to the crowd. Frontman Daniel Myer was full of intensity and loved every second of their brief time on stage. He was grinning from ear to ear and the crowd responded to every one of his projected shout-outs to the crowd. Energy level was perfection.
By the time Front Line Assembly hit the stage, the mood and atmosphere was reduced down to a state of flux. Frontman Bill Leeb was barely visible, singing in utter darkness, with a semi-sensual yet mainly uninspiring performance of garbled vocals. I lost my interest after the 3rd or 4th songs became a run-on sentence of the previous 2.
Skinny Puppy-
Fade to black and eventually out walks Nivek Ogre, waving a disheveled umbrella and dressed as an evil forrest warlock. The set continued with a series of elaborate costume changes and bone-chilling theatrical performances involving HAZMAT-suited chemical testers, colourful “radioactive” liquids, a taxidermied skinny puppy and the omnipresence of a backdrop of surveillance cameras. The scene was terrifying at first, and slowly jammed out for a little over 2 hours.
As a final serenade to the crowd, Skinny Puppy gifted fans with “Assimilate” during their second encore to properly shut things down. The best part of the night for me was the moment I took to step back to watch the faces of everyone in the crowd, all watching in awe with cheeky grins. Skinny Puppy were the storytellers of doom and we were the ones sopping up their magic.
Setlist:
Fritter (Stella’s Home)
Convulsion
illisiT
VX Gas Attack
The Choke
wornin’
Deep Down Trauma Hounds
Testure
Village
Hexonxonx
First Aid
Pasturn
Worlock
paragUn
Solvent
Encore:
God’s Gift (Maggot)
Assimilate
Review & photos – Chelsea Gray
Share this :
