Going to a concert is always exciting. You’re in the same physical space as the architect of your most favourable spatial vibrations. You’re on the same emotional plane as the soul that first conceived that combination of musical frequencies to reflect a particular experience.
They bleed these emotions from musical and electronic instruments through multiple strategically placed speakers, into a dark, barely-ventilated, cramped hall with a bar, and a surprisingly well maintained toilet.
Progressive rock, progressive metal -or simply, Prog- covers a lot of ground for the specialised sub-genre of its parent rock and metal music. It’s the pinnacle of musical complexity, highly technical delivery by extremely proficient musicians, while the music is still listenable, and has a small but extremely loyal, yet highly opinionated fan base.
sleepmakeswaves is a four-piece, post-rock, instrumental act based out of Sydney. Since their unexpectedly popular demo in 2007, they’ve carved their mark on the hearts of prog fans globally, supporting their favourite metal and progressive acts the whole while.
They promptly took the stage 30 minutes after the doors opened- a welcome departure from the typical hour-long wait at metal gigs. The 60 minute set consisted of their typical moderately paced, easy-listening yet energetically soul-lifting musical masterpieces.
The songs tend to have a constantly evolving structure, with underlying motifs setting the pace and having that consistency for human minds to hold on to, lest their minds get blasted into the otherwise unreachable regions of the human psyche sleepmakeswaves takes a listener to.
Introducing the last song, Alex Wilson (bass/synth/electronics) mentioned how sleepmakeswaves “aren’t about just creating music, they’re about creating a journey”. And I felt that was a very apt summary of the performance.
Devin Townshend has been writing, recording, producing and performing various shades of prog for a very long time. He made his big break when he appeared on guitar virtuoso Steve Vai‘s 1993 classic ‘ex and Religion– a revolutionary album on its own. The bar was set high from the beginning, and it has stayed there across Devin’s numerous solo, collaborative and guest efforts.
If sleepmakeswaves was the journey, Devin Townshend Project (DTP) was the destination. “Hi my name is Devin and I am not jetlagged!”, he screamed in his distinctive Canadian accent as the band ripped into Rejoice.
Devin’s music is grandiose, complex, feels less like instruments playing in conjunction with each other, and more like aural paintbrushes swishing across a musical canvass creating a vast soundscape. Mind you, I’m aware this is not typically how one would describe metal, especially when it’s in the low rumbling recesses of Open-C and Open-B tuning (relatively very low pitched guitars and bass, for those not familiar with stringed instruments in metal).
Devin was one of the first to embrace electronic sounds in a musical space typically inhabited by aggressive growling vocals, and blistering guitar solos. That’s not to say he isn’t extremely comfortable with healthy doses of the traditional elements. With a vocal range spanning over 5 octaves, he exhibits a highly respectable level of control at every pitch across that range. His vocals entreat you to a smorgasbord of styles from clean passages to those angry trademark growls and screams, and all the way back to falsetto even!
As the band played through songs from Devin’s numerous projects -“Here’s another song from over 30 records, because we’re old”, Devin seemed to have an endless supply of energy, and a level of “only partially crippling” self-awareness to match. Perhaps the jetlag was causing this “moose riding”, fellow commonwealth citizen to speak his thoughts out loud. But it kept the momentum up in between tracks.
The steady stream of comments about the not so steady flow of phlegm stuck in his throat stopped when Devin blew his nose on stage. He didn’t even apologise for it, which is very un-Canadian of him, but I let it pass. I’ll also let “something, something, lyrics” pass. The man’s lyrics can be extremely intellectually demanding, guys, give him a break!
He had it all, man… heavy, angry, ‘I want to punch something’ tunes, to slow groovy lines, and love songs – when the audience was asked to get their lighters out- and a selection from the fan favourite Ziltoid concept album.
Devin blatantly mocked the pointlessness of an ‘encore’: pointed out that he’ll do one anyway, so we can all have a pretend last song. Because the band needs to go away for a disguised 5 minute break, while the audience screams for more as the band “desperate for the audience’s validation” picks up their energy levels, as their sense of self worth rises enough to bring them back to the stage for another 3 songs.
The show concluded with Higher from DTP’s Transcendence, as Devin engaged the audience with the classic “YEAH!” three times, as he slung his guitar aside and beckoned the queue with large movements of his right hand across the stage. I had just witnessed a prodigy, a genius, and a rock star.
As if the intense musical experience wasn’t enough, Devin Townshend‘s parting advice was equally profound: “Drink plenty of water, call your folks, work hard and have a good week”. Not your typical metal show huh?
I’m glad DTP performed in Auckland “just as a rehearsal for subsequent Australian shows”, so for those of you across the ditch, don’t miss out, this is worth paying for.
