Skinny Puppy at History - Concert Photos

 

I was at home in a sea of black clothes last night at Toronto music venue History. It was the site of industrial music legends and groundbreakers Skinny Puppy's final Toronto appearance and celebration of the 40th anniversary of the band. Even though I never witnessed a Skinny Puppy show back in the day, the vibe was like a larger version of some of the long-lost Toronto clubs that played this kind of music, without as much room to dance. Good times; good memories.

Seeing Skinny Puppy on their Final Tour was a rare treat; a band from back in the day who sound as fresh and vital as ever. And their fans were there for it 100%. Many, many fans showed up in their finery, looking fantastic decked out in black of various materials and overall striking looks. The venue was full of enthusiastic fans soaking up Skinny Puppy's vibe, no doubt wishing this wasn't their last Toronto show.

The show featured masks, costumes, theatrics, various props and creative use of shadows to excite our visual senses as our aural senses were being filled with that familiar Skinny Puppy industrial sound. That sound was so unique when I first heard it back in the mid-80s and has been taken as inspiration by so many artists since then. But there's something about Skinny Puppy songs that still stand out, and sound powerful and relevant to this day.

During the show, I thought back to when a friend played me "Assimilate" and "Dig It" back in high school. It was as sound unlike anything I had heard before. It was aggressive, distorted, angst-filled, desperate, agonized, passionate and visceral. While some other bands' music can sound dated and cliche when looking back 40 years, Skinny Puppy's music sounds just as vital and urgent as ever.

Whether you’ve seen Skinny Puppy many times or this is your first, this is a tour well with catching. This is not a group cashing in or going through the motions one last time. They sound energetic and elemental, and put on a show that’s a feast for the eyes, ears and soul. Everything ends, and this Final Tour is one thing that Skinny Puppy fans will be sad to see end, but happy that it happened. 

My personal favourite tunes came towards the end of the set, with "Dig It" to end the main set, followed by "Assimilate", "Smothered Hope", "Testure" and a second encore of "Candle". The full setlist is here.

Lead into Gold opened up the night. Check out my photos and thoughts on their set here.

Lead into Gold at History - Concert Photos

Lead into Gold is a side project of Paul Barker, American industrial musician best known as the former bassist for Ministry, and Hermes Pan of the Luxa/Pan production team.

I caught their show opening up for Skinny Puppy at Toronto's History for their Final Tour. The duo filled the room with strong industrial beats and intensity. The duo was flanked by video screens adding ambiance to match their sound. They were a great fit to warm up the crowd and fit the vibe of the evening perfectly.

Their latest album is The Eternal Present. Check out the title track below.

And head over here to check out my shots of Skinny Puppy's headlining set.

Begonia at The Great Hall - Concert Photos

Winnipeg‘s Begonia stopped by Toronto’s Great Hall on Friday night on her Powder Blue tour.  It just happened to be release day for Begonia’s new album Powder Blue. 

I love Begonia's singing, songwriting, storytelling and the positive vibe she spreads from centre stage. This was my fourth time catching a Begonia performance, but the first where she was headlining her own show. Pretty cool. 

Their set included tunes from across Powder Blue, Fear, and Lady In Mind. Begonia commented that this tour marks the first time she's had more music released than she can fit into the set. Nice problem to have; so many powerful and engaging songs that they can't all be played every night!

Personal highlights were the tunes I love from Fear and Lady In Mind, just because they're more familiar. "Hanging on a Line", "The Light", "Fear" got everyone vibing, and "Beats" with it's refrain of "it's not your birthday, baby" was great. Highlights from Powder Blue were "Marigold", which rocked and "Butterfly", a quiet song about realizing that you know nothing that garnered huge applause, plus the single "Married by Elvis". They closed the set with "Bleeding Heart" from Powder Blue. The encore tunes were from Lady In Mind; "Hot Dog Stand", which was an early standout tune that really got me into Begonia, and "Juniper". I'm sure more tunes from Powder Blue will become favourites as they seep into my consciousness. They sound awesome on the album and in the live show.

Begonia is a great storyteller and I love her stories; they give us a deeper insight into Begonia, her life, and her music. I highly recommend checking out her music and watch for her stopping by your city on tour.

Witch Prophet did a great job opening up the show. My photos of their performance are here.

I mentioned having captured three other Begonia performances. Click the links to check out my photos from her performance at Supercrawl in 2019, Riverfest Elora in 2019 and The Horseshoe Tavern for CMW 2018.

And here's some of her music:

"Married by Elvis" from Begonia's latest album, Powder Blue

"The Light" from Fear

Witch Prophet at The Great Hall - Concert Photos

Witch Prophet took to The Great Hall stage on Friday evening. They were warming up the crowd for Begonia's Powder Blue album release show and they did a great job of doing just that. Their operatic soul / alternative R&B tunes were enthusiastically received and I'm sure there were many new Witch Prophet fans created Friday night.

The crowd warmed up quickly to Witch Prophet's engaging and emotional songs. We got several new tunes including "Bird's Eye View" and "Energy Vampire" that was released earlier this week, and some of their older material. 

My photos of Begonia's set are here.

I previously witnessed a Witch Prophet performance when I covered the Wolfe Island Winter Ball.

And here's some Witch Prophet music:

"Energy Vampire"

Broken Social Scene at History - Concert Photos

Broken Social Scene are legends of the Canadian indie music community. They're a supergroup that features musicians from a swath of Canadian bands including Stars and Metric, and many more.

It was twenty years ago that their landmark album You Forgot It In People was released. Many songs from that album have become set list favourites, like "KC Accidental", "Stars And Sons", "Anthems For A Seventeen Year Old Girl" and "Cause = Time". This tour is a celebration of that album anniversary and over the night, we heard the whole album.

We also heard many other BSS favourites, like "7/4 Shoreline", "It's All Gonna Break" and "Ibi Dreams Of Pavement (A Better Day)". The whole setlist is listed out here.

Overall it was a fun, uplifting celebration of a concert. This was my first time getting to hang around and appreciate History. It's a really well designed venue with great sound, lighting and sight lines. 

Status/Non-Status opened up the show. My pics of their set are here.

We've covered BSS a couple of times in the past. Check out pics from Osheaga 2017 and Field Trip 2017. 

Take a listen to "Anthems For A Seventeen Year Old Girl" from You Forgot It In People

and one of my absolute fave BSS tunes "7/4 Shoreline" from their eponymous 2005 album