Devin Townsend, the mad genius of metal returned to Perth last night – sans band – for an intimate revue of songs and a story or two from throughout his career. Just a crazy, overthinking guy and his acoustic guitar, we were in for a treat.
As the Townsend faithful waited we were treated to the support act of mood lighting and ambient music before the man himself walked out and tuned up. “I forgot my setlist, guess I’m just gonna have to wing it!” were Dev’s opening words and then into a haunting rendition of Funeral from Ocean Machine and the night had begun. From that into DTB’s Deadhead it was clear from the onset that we were going to cover a lot of ground tonight.
While this crowd may have been made up of dedicated Devin fans, even a casual fan wouldn’t be able to deny the charm of this man and want to put him in your pocket and take him home. He’d hate it but you’d want to do it anyway. His madness/genius and sense of humour is evident in his banter between and even during songs, like when playing Love? from Strapping Young Lad’s The New Black and announcing “ah, now I’m bored” and populating the song with fart noises, the man just gets everyone in this room.
It was about more than just the music tonight as the second half of the evening was dedicated to the man interacting with his fans for a bit of Q&A, which was both revealing and hilarious. It’s great to know that a man so revered by the metal community – and approaching 50 – still loves a good fart joke. I was particularly fond of learning of the conceptual piece about dicks and vaginas. Seriously Devin, never grow up.
Musically we were treated to a career encompassing set where every song really could be a standout, from the joy of Ih-Ah!, Let It Roll, Hyperdrive, an actual appearance of Ziltoid for Solar Winds to the hilarity of his love for Baby Shark, a bit of Star Wars’ cantina band, bringing it on home with some Thing Beyond Things, Terminal and ending with Life, tonight was a night I don’t think any of us will forget. Whatever you do Devin, don’t change.
PHOTO GALLERY
Photos by Tammie Molotov – Molotov Enterprises & Photography
