Author: Rok Klemše
Photos: Rok Klemše
Venue: Szene, Vienna, Austria
Concert date: March 20, 2011
Attendance: 700
Ticket price: €20/€24
These days metal has a nice number of oddballs who make music outside every frame, brilliantly and fearlessly tearing down the borders and barriers that metal’s genres draw so sharply. One of these nonconformists is the brilliant Canadian multi-talent Devin Garret Townsend, who finally swung by our neck of the woods again after a long time. With his new project Devin Townsend Project, this musical “mastermind” landed at Vienna’s szene, where he put on an unforgettable show and reminded everyone of his rich and deeply respectable career. Devin first got everyone’s attention in 1993, when he showed up as a total unknown with an exceptional vocal talent on Steve Vai’s album Sex & Religion (in my opinion it’s still Vai’s best record, and that’s also, or even mostly, thanks to Devin!). After seeing the rot of the music industry up close, Devin founded the critically and fan-acclaimed, psychotic Strapping Young Lad. In 1997, as the perfect antipode to the aggression and mania of Strapping Young Lad, Devin started a solo band to explore gentler, more ear-friendly musical spheres. Ten years later he suddenly and surprisingly announced he was wrapping up Strapping Young Lad and touring altogether. Years of playing and obligations had taken their toll, and a fed-up Devin retired early to spend more time with his family. But the workaholic didn’t sit still for long: that very same year he released a wacky “space rock” opera starring the ultimate villain, Ziltod the Omniscient. Soon after, he kicked off Devin Townsend Project, with which he’ll put out four albums, each describing Devin himself and his view and understanding of music in its own way. Even more important and delightful, with Devin Townsend Project he also returned to the live stage.
The anticipation for Devin to take over the stage of Vienna’s szene was that much more impatient, but first we obviously had to sit through the support act. The honor of warming up the crowd for Devin Townsend fell this time to the young English outfit Aeon Zen, which is really a “one man band” project of bassist Richard Hinks, who recorded all the instruments and vocals on the studio albums released so far. After a quick look at the Aeon Zen MySpace page I was expecting a lot, since you can read that Hinks is nothing less than the next Mozart, but of course the kid is far from it. Richard and his hired musicians served up a thoroughly clichéd version of progressive metal that borrows heavily from Dream Theater and similar bands. With a screaming vocalist out front. The performance was solid and technically flawless, but generic Aeon Zen prog metal is totally soulless and lacks any identity of its own. Even guest keyboardist Vadim Pruzhanov (Dragonforce) couldn’t inject any real excitement into the music, so Aeon Zen’s set went by quick and forgettable. Then again, whoever played before Devin Townsend Project on this Monday night would have had a seriously tough and damn thankless job.
And we came to Vienna for one reason and one reason only… Devin Townsend! The jam-packed szene went nuts the moment the lights dropped and a mystical, ominous intro rolled in… No, no, we didn’t come for Gorgo(šrot)roth, but for something completely different, and as soon as Ziltoid landed on the screen on stage and did a little dance to Vengaboys, Devin made it clear he meant business. Well, a bit less business, actually, since for two hours we became Ziltoid’s sex slaves… and enjoyed every second of it. Devin and his gang hooked us right from the start with the infectious bouncer Addicted!, and within the first seconds of the show they showed more innovation than all the progressive metal bands on this planet put together. Except Ziltoid. The members of Devin Townsend Project don’t need to prove themselves with masturbatory solos and thousands of notes per second; they show off their rich approach to music with brilliantly constructed arrangements, carefully thought-out changes in rhythm and tempo, fantastic instrumental passages and above all countless emotions and feelings, carried over into musical form down to the last detail. Every single song carries Devin’s strong authorial stamp, which means the songs are almost baroque in their richness, with a monumental wall of sound that fills every last nook of your gray matter and blows you away with the raw simplicity of incredible, high-soaring choruses on one side and mind-blowing complexity on the other. With the support of an excellent instrumental lineup, the incredible Devin laid out a stripped-to-the-bone show about everything this Canadian “metal Frank Zappa” mind is capable of. One moment we were swaying to the rhythms of “pop metal” ditties like Addicted! and Supercrush!, the next we drifted off dreamily on the wings of the ethereal Deadhead, and then laughed until we cried at the Ziltoid anthems By Your Command and Ziltoidia Attaxx!!!, during which Ziltoid himself showed off his guitar mastery on the screen. With a wave of one hand Devin builds simply incredible atmospheres in his songs, covering a stunning spectrum of feelings, from otherworldly guitar lines and meditative patterns to pure ball-busting metal excursions. The band’s nicest surprise, though, came at the end of the main set with a spectacular triplet: Life, a hymn to living with an unrepeatable positive message and energy to match; Earth Day, a phenomenal nine-minute trip dedicated to nature and the Earth with a strong ecological message; and the cheeky, almost swing-flavored Bad Devil. Throughout, eyes and ears were glued to the central figure of the night, Devin Townsend. Not only did Devin deliver a barrage of brilliant guitar lines and solos, which this madman crams into a single person (anyone else would need at least five guitarists for that), he also proved beyond doubt that right now he is one of the best and most chameleonic vocalists in metal. Devin is incredibly strong in the mid-range and handles his vocal lines with an enviably beautiful tone, yet he can still wake up good old Hevy Devy, whom we remember from Strapping Young Lad, in a heartbeat. Then he transforms into a raw, brutal screamer and growler! But Devin truly shines with his gentle, ethereal, dreamy vocals, which carry you off to other dimensions in an instant, floating away on a cloud of atmosphere that Devin builds with nothing but his voice and a guitar. And you can’t picture Devin without the clowning around, and of course this time was no exception. Townsend is truly worthy of the biggest stand-up comedians, and he provides gut-busting moments with his facial grimaces and really his whole look. So the “intermission” didn’t pass with the usual tired chanting and calling the musicians back on stage, because Devin did that himself. In his trademark off-the-wall humor, he called out Dave “seamen collector” Young (guitar), the bassist who smokes more weed than everyone put together, and drummer Ryan Van Poederooyen, who has such strong pecs he can open oil cans with them. Finally he introduced himself: “Hello, my name is Devin. Every night before bed I masturbate. Crying.” To close, Devin dragged us back into the embrace of Ziltoid’s sweaty harem with the crazy Color Your World and The Greys, and the most beautiful and most meditative moment of the show came with the ethereal jam of songs from the album Ki. For the very finale, Devin invited a tenth of the fans in the crowd to dance on stage, and together they danced to the “cheesiest” song he’s ever written, as he called it, Bend it Like Bender!
With the Vienna show, Devin Townsend served up two hours of pure musical pleasure on a big platter, and even the Austrian crowd, usually considered reserved and ungrateful, joined in with everything they had and enjoyed it. This time they went wild at every move Devin made, and kept energetically and effectively taking part the whole time with singing and jumping. In an age of great musical genericness, Devin Townsend is a lighthouse shining with wit, honesty, sparkle, innovation and a huge amount of quality, both in the music itself and in the live performance, since Townsend delivers two full hours of unforgettable fun. Even though it was a Monday, such an incredible, positive and optimistic gig experience made it easier to step into the work week, because it was “boob-o-phonic”. “Yeees! Indeed!”
Photos: Rok Klemše
Setlist
DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT: 1. Addicted! 2. Supercrush! 3. Kingdom 4. Deadhead 5. Truth 6. OM (Intro) 7. By Your Command 8. Ziltoidia Attaxx! 9. Life 10. Earth Day 11. Bad Devil – encore 1 – 12. Color Your World 13. The Greys 14. Ki Jam 15. Deep Peace – encore 2 – 16. Bend It Like Bender!
Photo Gallery
