The Tokyo Concert Experience

Personally I think that hip hop is the avant-garde of mainstream. That’s not to say that there is no hip hop outside the mainstream, because there obviously is. It’s more of an acknowledgment of the fact that the new beat-electronic-based pattern has replaced the old drums-guitar-bass one. It doesn’t matter if you’re Ariana Grande or Justin Bieber, if you add a solid beat to your song you’ll be adding an atmospheric layer that will be worthwhile.  Trap Rap, with its nihilistic and gritty lyrical themes, have struck a chord with a young audience growing up within the confines of virtual societies courtesy of Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and many other platforms that will certainly appear by the time this post reach you. Its bleak and ominous presence could be interpreted as a view of that void left by the slow fade out of our real world. The -pardon the pun- entrapping nature of this ubiquitousness is described by Travis Scott in one of the best songs of the genre : “I gotta b...

The stage backdrop is a staple at metal shows, but there’s something unique about the one that reads  Voivod . Yes, it’s just the name of the band, as in the logo displayed on the cover of three of their early classic albums. Take it for granted it’s just another cool logo. In close inspection it reveals intricate details. The symmetry interrupted by the metallic object on top of the “I”. The way the letters are connected. The texture and shape that makes us thing: “is this some kind of spaceship, a weapon or one of those surgical devices seen in -their fellow Canadian- Cronenberg’s movies?” It’s probably none of the above, but one thing’s for sure, Away (Michel Langevin, drummer and founding member, responsible for the band’s imagery and concept) brilliantly translated the complexities of the band in their logo. Towering over his drum set, it was a hint of what we were about to witness.  The band walked in onstage nonchalantly and from the get-go established a connectio...