The second night of Eisbaer 2019 was lined up for Saturday November 16th at the Garrison, and coincidentally Kaelan Mikla and Solstafir had also been booked for a showcase gig that same night at the Dakota Tavern around the corner as part of the Rejkjavik Calling series. Kaelan Mikla had never played in Toronto before and I had been waiting a while to see them, so I suggested to my friend Ryan that we should try and hit both venues for a two show/five band night. Unfortunately there were no advance tickets for the Rejkjavik show, so we had to line up in advance around 5pm which made for a long wait outside during that bitter mid-November period when winter has finally made it's arrival but there's no snow on the ground to insulate against the chill of the wind.
Despite the weather we were committed to our mission though, and around 7pm we were able to get into the Dakota. Ryan and I were rewarded for our perseverance with a spot right at the front of the stage for Kaelan Mikla's set, so we were pretty pleased
with everything when the band came out and started their
first song. They sounded amazing, howling vocals over a haunting bass
and synth driven noise that conjured images of banshees and late night
rituals. It was intense and unsettling and absolutely awesome, but it was also the only song they
were able to play. A bad flu had been following the band around the last
couple of weeks prior to the Toronto date and that combined with
exhaustion from their tour meant that the lead singer wasn't able to
continue with the show. That kind of thing can't be helped and I felt
really badly for the band, but I'm glad that they took the opportunity
to rest and take care of themselves. I have faith that Kaelan Mikla will make
it back to Toronto again sometime in the future, and you can be sure that I'll be there when they do.
With the extra time in the schedule Solstafir opted to do an extended set rather than the showcase they had originally planned for, and I was really impressed by them. I had never heard them before but they played an awesome show, very Metal, and the lead singer played a flying V so that gave them extra Metal credibility points in my mind. Definitely another great musical discovery for me from that weekend.
After Solstafir's set we went around the corner to the Garrison, and made it just in time for Black Dresses' set at Eisbaer and they were incredible. Proudly declared "Punk as Fuck" by headliners Adult., Black Dresses were raw, intense, and all sorts of amazing, playing with the energy and passion that comes from a true love and belief in what they're doing. Absolutely incredible stuff that was a total highlight among all of the acts that I saw that weekend.
Dreamcrusher were up next and I was completely blown away when they gave one of the most powerful shows I've seen in a while. Immersing the venue completely in darkness for the start of their set, a quiet mix of opening tracks abruptly shifted to a burst of stark strobe lighting that pulsed aggressively while Dreamcrusher stalked the stage delivering a raw and bloodcurdling vocal performance. This was Theatre of Confrontation at it's best, a physically demanding and immersive live experience that shook me right down to my core. Having seen this performance at Eisbaer I would totally recommend that if you ever have the chance to experience Dreamcrusher live that you really should check them out...
Adult. closed the night with a senses shattering set of Dark Electronic that fully captured why they're universally recognized as legends in the genre. Pulse pounding intensely controlled mayhem at its very best, Adult. have never really been a band that I've felt comfortable describing, they're more an act that you have to experience for yourself, and their performance at Eisbaer 2019 was an incredible experience to say the least. As I write this they've just announced a new album and tour for 2022, and while there's no Toronto gig scheduled yet I'm optimistic that they'll make their way through the city again at some point. Definitely a band I'm looking forward to seeing again.
So yeah, that was night two of Eisbaer 2019, an excellent conclusion to an excellent festival, one that I'm hoping we'll see again in 2022. We've always been very lucky to have a lot of exciting musical events happening in Toronto, and as we slowly ease back into the swing of things in our current Post-Pandemic world I hope that we'll see more well-curated shows like this make a return, and that there will be more opportunities to both revel in the excitement of seeing legendary artists perform and to discover new ones as well...
No comments:
Post a Comment