[swervedriver]

This place looks amazing! (from RVP's fb)



Did you see the Devin Townsend Project at The Mayan in LA?

Please post your reviews, setlists, photos and video links here!

Thanks!

I was at this show last night, and I must say that I thought it was absolutely amazing. Monuments opened, Animals followed, and Devin closed out the night. All 3 bands came out there and really put on a great show. Each band had a real solid sound in terms of production, and all of their playing matched what I came to expect from the studio versions, even despite Devin's voice being a little worn out from the long tour. Monuments opened, Animals followed, and Devin closed out the night.

The crowd seemed to really be into all 3 bands, and I was there too in the middle of it all singing and headbanging along with the rest of the people near the front of the stage. Met a lot of cool people last night too, everyone was real down to earth and just stoked to talk about music as you might expect, but it's still awesome nonetheless.

Monuments opened and had a lot of good energy and their more djent-styled riffing was actually done more respectably than most other djent-like bands I've come across, they are able to create a bit of an atmosphere by tucking melodies away in the midst of the heavy riff plodding and the singing mixed in with the growls works well in the context of their play style. The only slow part of the set was when their singer Chris Barretto busted out a saxophone for one song, it was a cool thing to see, and implemented well in the song itself, it just came at a bad part of the set and kind of slowed the buzz they had just built up to that point. Pretty minor though, they played well and were a great way to start the show.

Animals came out there and just did exactly what you would hope, want, and expect them to do, and maybe even a little more than you would expect. I didn't expect them to have such a good light and visual show as they did, the visuals in particular really complimented what they were playing and it synced beautifully over some parts, which totally amplified the emotion that comes across in the songs for me. The set list was really incredible and leaned heavily on their latest album and their self-titled debut, and Weightless got some sweet Espera love in there as well. A cool little surprise was when Chris Barretto from Monuments came out and played the sax while they were tearing through Physical Education. The Woven Web was certainly a highlight of the set for me, and it was great to see them close with CAFO. All 3 guys absolutely nailed their parts and Tosin just shredded away as you hope he would. They sounded like they do on the CD, what more could you ask. Great performance.

The Devin Townsend Project ended the night, and I was really fortunate to have the chance to meet the band before the show at the meet and greet (I met Animals As Leaders also, they were cool and down to earth dudes) and you could tell that Devin was really worn out, probably from all the recording and touring that he's been doing, and he was very up-front about it, but it definitely wasn't like a negative thing, he was still appreciative of the fans and really made an effort to please everyone, so I don't fault the guy for being exhausted, if anything I think he might overwork himself a little bit. Either way, I bring that up only as back story, because during their performance, Devin would regularly break in between songs to talk to the audience about his situation and him trying to pull it out of himself to get into it. To some it might have come across as negative, but to me and all the people around me, it certainly wasn't that way. The performance quality was still great, even though Dev's voice was a little strained, it was only slightly so it didn't take away anything . And by the end, right before they played Grace, he said some really heart-felt things that I know for a fact touched a couple of people around me, myself included.

But enough with that lame emotional stuff, the performance itself was great. The setlist was slightly bipolar in terms of mood and tempo changes, but I think it was reflective of Dev's current mood and either way, I loved all of the songs and thought each one was amazing. The visuals were awesome as well, especially mixed in with the high-flying guitar melodies and high signing parts from Devin, mixed in with his theatrical on-stage persona, you really feel like you are soaring with the band on a musical high. Even if Devin was struggling to be in it internally, it certainly didn't come across that way externally. Bad Devil was a nice little nugget thrown in there from his older material. The sheer whackiness of it makes it seem a little mental, but I gotta admit, I went a little mental when it was playing, and boy did it feel good, so no hate there haha. I was pleasantly surprised they had an encore, because it wasn't listed on the set I got for the meet and greet, and it was Deathray! I really enjoy the energy and riffs in that song, catchy, but so groovy. Great way to end an amazing night!

Thanks to all the bands and crews involved to make the show what it was so special, I will remember the night for a long time to come! Cheers