Nouvelle Vague, 2022

Nouvelle Vague, live at The Opera House in Toronto, August 2022

Boy Harsher, 2022

 

Boy Harsher, live at The Opera House in Toronto, July 2022

Strange as Angels, 2022

 

Strange as Angels, live at The Opera House in Toronto, August 2022

Boy Harsher, 2022

 

Boy Harsher, live at The Opera House in Toronto, July 2022

Strange as Angels, 2022

 

Strange as Angels, live at The Opera House in Toronto, August 2022

Nouvelle Vague, 2022

 

Nouvelle Vague, live at The Opera House in Toronto, August 2022

Wolf Alice, 2022

 

Wolf Alice, live at The Opera House in Toronto, March 2022

Hiro Kone, 2022

 

Hiro Kone, live at The Opera House in Toronto, July 2022

Boy Harsher, 2022

 

Boy Harsher, live at The Opera House in Toronto, July 2022

Wolf Alice, 2022

 

Wolf Alice, live at The Opera House in Toronto, March 2022

November 13th 2021, Bjork at the Opera House

I became a fan of The Sugarcubes when they put out "Life's Too Good" in 1988, a collection of eclectic and alien songs that were strangely compelling. It was an album that ran a gamut of moods and feelings, moving deftly between the joyful celebration of Birthday and the unsettling unease of Coldsweat with a skill that many bands at the time couldn't dream of. Over the course of the next few years The Sugarcubes released a handful of albums that challenged Pop ideals and aesthetics, randomly releasing tracks that were willfully obscure or brilliantly resonant until they broke up in 1992. 

You'd think that their break up would be the end of the story, but a year later lead singer Bjork released her first solo album "Debut", and, well, that kind of suggested that The Sugarcubes were the prequel to a whole different story. To say that "Debut" is anything less than a perfect blend of sounds and styles is an understatement. The entire album was immediately accessible and appealing, quirky yet connective, slick and sleek and thoroughly awesome, a bold new sound that laid the foundation for Bjork to be recognized as a significant and relevant artist who's distinct and unique work would continue to develop over the course of the next few decades.

It's impossible to imagine that she would have known where her solo career would take her at that point, but there was no question that Bjork was completely confident and sure of herself when she came to Toronto in support of the album. Her show at the Opera House was an excellent study in the mechanics of live performance featuring a complete run through the album along with a stunning version of Play Dead taken from a soundtrack that was released around the same time. She jumped around wildly during a spirited performance of Violently Happy, and during the instrumental parts in Big Time Sensuality she charged head first at her band members like a bull. It was a great show on a variety of levels, but most importantly it ably demonstrated Bjork's vast talent and creativity, one of her first steps as a solo artist on a unique and exciting musical journey that continues to this day...

October 24th 1994, Killing Joke at the Opera House

Killing Joke's show at the Opera House in 1994 was excellent, a monstrous wall of Post Punk/Goth brilliance performed by a group of legends who had made a huge impact on a variety of musical genres. Touring in support of the "Pandemonium" album, the show brought together the original line up of Jaz Coleman, Geordie Walker, and Youth for the first time in years, and they were an intensely tight and dynamic unit even despite having not played with each other for so long, a tremendous indication of their individual talents and their chemistry as a group. 

The show opened with the three of them walking in a line onto the stage to much applause, with Coleman wearing a large black jester's hat with bells that bobbed and shook as he walked and his eyes were lined with thick layers of kohl. It was a particularly sinister look that was more than a little unsettling, and I distinctly remember turning to my friend Bevin and telling her that I was kind of scared of him. By the end of the first song the jester's hat had been ripped off and the kohl had run in streaks down Coleman's face like tears, giving his eyes a bleeding look that was still kind of scary but looked absolutely awesome.

As far as reunion shows go it was different from the approach that most bands take where they stick to the nostalgic side of things and play old hits from back in the day. Instead Killing Joke chose to focus on their new reunion album, playing most of "Pandemonium" with a few classics thrown in, and in retrospect I think that was the best choice they could have made. This wasn't a reunion designed to celebrate past achievements, this was an effort to continue and build on their legacy, and that meant moving forward with new material that was just as strong as their earlier efforts. Newer songs like Millennium and Pandemonium all sounded great, vital and monstrous and really heavy, mixing well with older songs like Love Like Blood, Requiem and others, crafting a consistently solid show that highlighted their skill as a group and the ways that their individual talents complimented each other so well. 

It was an excellent show, a great performance that impressed me on a variety of levels, and I'll always remember it for the band's confidence and strength in their delivery, and how they didn't need to rely on the hits to be awesome...