VOIVOD Gig Review

October 9th, 2012 by Yiannis

Support Acts: Doom /Serpent Venom.

London Highbury Relentless Garage , Sunday the 7^th of October 2012

Review by Yiannis (John) Stefanis

Photos by Yiannis (John) Stefanis

Who cares if you have to travel into London on a Sunday night and, more importantly, travel back out again at some ungodly hour to get home? None of that mattered to me on the 7^th of October as the Canadian Prog Metal legends Voivod were back in town and this was one gig I was not willing to miss!

Having completed an earlier interview with the band’s frontman Denis (Snake) Belanger, I was at the venue on time to see the first opening act of the day – the London based doomsters Serpent Venom. I had never heard any of the band’s material prior to this show and even though their sound was a tad too loud and heavily distorted for a venue of the size of the Relentless Garage, it somehow managed to fit perfectly with their numerous slow groovy riffs and powerful drum beats.

None of the compositions performed were particularly complicated, but the passion involved and the atmosphere created ensured that when the four lads left the stage half an hour later, they did so having won over a decent part of the crowd – some of which were seen leaving the venue with a copy of the band’s debut release “Carnal Altar” in their hands.

Next to come on stage were the Crust Punk/Grindcore UK legends Doom – a band whose name bears no relevance whatsoever to their style of music, which has more in common with bands like Discharge and Napalm Death than that of Black Sabbath or Trouble – even though frontman Denis was seen sporting a T-Shirt of the latter band. In direct contrast with their predecessors, Doom’s performance relied mainly on speed and aggression, forcing the same crowd that was up until then quite content with simply head banging quite moderately to speed things up a bit.

The band performed material spanning their career, but the song that seems to have attracted the best reaction by the crowd was the up-tempo “Police Bast*rds” – one that guitarist Bri Doom felt somehow inclined to ‘dedicate’ to the Yorkshire police force! Having obtained the seal of approval from the headlining act, whose members were spotted among the crowd throughout their performance, and having spent the better part of half an hour creating as much noise as they possibly could, the Birmingham-based quartet left the stage victoriously.

It is quite refreshing to see that not all musicians suffer from ‘Rock Star syndrome’ – something that a man with the experience and status of Michel “Away” Langevin would have deserved to have more than any other artist I know. Still, the legendary drummer asked nobody for help to adjust the same kit that was used by all previous drummers and, with minimum hassle, prepared himself for what turned to be one and a half hours of technically impressive, honest and passionate music!

The band’s set kicked off with the all-time classic “Voivod”, much to the crowd’s satisfaction and by the time “Ripping Headaches” was introduced the levels of energy and heat inside the venue had reached unprecedented heights! Snake was the towering and commanding frontman whom we all know and love, constantly communicating with the crowd, when not pulling faces and making funny gestures with his band mates, that is.

Together with the equally ‘animated’ duet of Jean-Yves (Blacky) Theriault (bass)/Daniel (Chewy) Mongrain (guitar), they made the night’s show an audio/visual experience of the utmost quality! Daniel performed late Denis (Piggy) D’Amour’s parts with the dedication and respect that they truly deserved and his presence as the sole guitarist in the band was both natural and inspiring, especially when new/yet unreleased material such as “Target Earth”, “Mechanical Mind” and the beautifully weird “Kluskap-Okom” were performed. The band’s loyal fans, of course, expected classics and they were not disappointed as killer renditions of “Nothingface” and “Psychic Vacuum” were performed prior to the band leaving the stage for the first time claiming curfew issues.

I was not prepared to leave the venue without listening to my all-time favorite anthem “Tribal Convictions” even if that meant that I would have to drag the band back on stage myself but, luckily for them, that was the song that they had chosen to perform once they returned on stage. The last song of the show was a wonderful performance of the Pink Floyd classic “Astronomy Domine” – one that Snake introduced to the crowd with tears in his eyes as he dedicated it to his fallen comrade Piggy.

To say that the song was executed with renewed passion by the band would be the understatement of the century, especially as Blacky was so fired up in the end that he decided to stage dive with his bass guitar still strapped around him after the finale few notes were performed!

I have witnessed many good gigs so far this year but I cannot think of a single one whose musical and emotional value can even begin to compare with the one that the members of Voivod so kindly and open-heartedly gave us tonight! With a massive arsenal of classic songs to satisfy the most die-hard of fans and with new material that is promising an equally successful future, Voivod proved once and for all that they are a band that truly deserves the title ‘legendary’; a word which is often used to refer to them in many music-related conversations or articles.

Voivod Set List:

Main Set:

“Voivod”
“Ripping Headaches”
“Target Earth”
“The Prow”
“Forgotten In Space”
“Mechanical Mind”
“Nothingface”
“Jack Luminous”
“Kluskap-Okom”
“Psychic Vacuum”

Encore:

“Tribal Convictions”
“Astronomy Domine”

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REVENGIN Decadent Feeling (Wormholedeath)

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09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Melodic Rock)
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