"Eyes speak no more, heart feel no fear for she can see all."
Would you like to ‘rant’ at Madame Webb? Contact me at: madame.webb@rogers.com
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
||||||||||||
 |
 |
 |
|
||||||||||
 |
|
||||||||||||
 |
 |
 |
|
||||||||||
 |
|
||||||||||||
 |
 |
 |
|
||||||||||
 |
|
||||||||||||
 |
 |
 |
|
||||||||||
 |
|
||||||||||||
 |
 |
 |
|
||||||||||
 |
|
||||||||||||
 |
 |
 |
|
||||||||||
 |
|
||||||||||||
November 13, 2002
Razed In Black with Glis and Ayria at Funhaus
The long awaited event by Blacklamb Productions was finally here. The Hawaiian gods of Razed In Black were performing with Seattle’s Glis and Toronto’s very own Jennifer Parkin in her new project, Ayria. I must first start by stating that Funhaus needs to turn their volume down. The music is so loud that all the songs sound like static and a distorted mix of instruments. The vocals in Ayria were drowned out by the treble alone. As a venue that I really want to see succeed, please take it down a decibel … or six.
The three-piece live band from Seattle was the first up to play. With three albums already under their belt, Toronto’s Glis fans couldn’t wait to see them. Their live drummer Mike Wimer was extraordinary. In this synthesized world it was great to see a live drummer on electronic drum pads rather than just a machine. Keyboardist Carsten Pedersen pounded the keys to keep the crowd and singer, Shaun Frandsen, jumping. If there is a machine out there that exists for creating the same old synthpop or EBM bands, then Glis came from it. The band was not original. If you closed your eyes at the concert you could swear that you were listening to a rough version of Apoptygma Berzerk. Glis has such amazing technical talent that if they found their own style and sound it could make them a worldwide success. They played a six-song set featuring music from their latest album ‘Balance’. The rap influenced ‘Discontent’ could easily get air time on any of the big radio stations but their synthpop song ‘Break Away’ showed just how good Glis can be. Ayria graced the stage with Shaun for their duet in ‘Letting Go’. The two blonde bombers looked like a brother and sister act and the chemistry they had on stage was remarkable. Could Glis and Ayria become one musical act in the future?
Jennifer Parkin was accompanied on stage by members of Glis. Her cute lolita look definitely kept the eye interested during her performance. Since everything seems to be going retro, her 80’s sounding nasal vocals could bring her scores of retro fans. She had a short yet sweet set with 5 songs off her debut album ‘Debris’. Unfortunately her repetitive vocals from Epsilon Minus followed her to Ayria, especially in the songs ‘Horrible Dream and Debris’. Ayria’s techno feel and dark beats swam through the club pleasing all. Jennifer bared her soul and showed us her dark side in ‘Disease’, this was truly one of her best songs of the night. It is wonderful to see a talented artist from Toronto gaining popularity in the music world and I hope Ayria will be performing more often in her home city of Toronto.
And last but not least, Razed In Black. The extraordinary one-man band Romell Regulacion should never be compared to Trent Reznor, he surpasses Reznor.
Romell enlisted the help of drummer Ivan Delaforce and Canada’s own celebrity, the former YTV host, ‘Phil’ on lead guitar. Seeing Phil was a complete shock, who knew that man liked Industrial? Sporting a black boa, he was enthusiastic, pumped and wailed on the guitar. To me, Industrial isn’t Industrial unless there is a guitar and this is just one thing that puts RiB above all the rest. You can see and hear the influence Romell has had from some of the flagship Goth bands but he’s modernized it and made a sound all his own. During their live performance it was easy to realize how RiB made fans throughout the world. Romell’s charisma, charm and passion were seeping from him, trust me when I say that all eyes in the club were on him. Being the front man of the band seemed so natural for Romell. Moving, singing, playing, he cast his spell on the crowd and entranced us all. RiB played all new stuff from the ‘Damaged’ album. Songs such as ‘Come Back to Me, I’ll Damage You and Visions’ flowed from one to the other and of course they were sure to give us ‘Oh My Goth’ as well. The crowd danced the 10-song set away and cried for more. We were treated to one encore and then the band left us with more than we could ever imagine. Not only will the memory of seeing them live be stuck in our heads but also that we witnessed true talent, a band that literally rocked Toronto, an unstoppable force in the Dark Culture music genre. And a new appreciation for a band that’s been around for almost a decade. Toronto waited four long years to have Razed In Black perform here since the last time, I hope they don’t keep us waiting that long ever again.
“Good night Brazil!”
