Before Dogsbody — Model/Actriz's debut album that's become an under-the-radar pick for album of the year — the Brooklyn band cut their teeth wowing audiences in dank clubs, one show at a time. That experience was evident at their most recent Toronto gig where frontman Cole Haden literally brought the sold out crowd to their knees.
Though they lacked Model/Actriz's knack for theatrics, Toronto up-and-comers Luge were the perfect musical pairing for their firebrand headliners. Their music spans the space between the mutant disco of ESG and the chaotic noise of Lightning Bolt, often in the same song.
Pulling from their just-released I Love it Here, I Live Here, the four-piece proved incredibly adept at translating their complex compositions to the stage, anchored by drummer Eli (singer Kaiva Gotham failed to provide a last name when introducing her bandmate) who was making his live debut with the group. "I know why you're really here — to see Model/Actriz," dead panned Gotham, selling her band — and the larger number of their supporters in the crowd — short.
Within seconds of Model/Actriz taking the stage, Haden's mastery of tension — wielding it like a weapon only to break it with fits of levity or euphoria — became clear as day. As the ominous opening clang of "Donkey Show" set the mood for the next hour, the singer could be seen aggressively applying chapstick to his pursed lips before the hulking lurch of the song kicked in. But it was on "Mosquito" where things really snapped into focus, the crowd shouting back the refrain "With a body count higher than a mosquito" back at the singer. No strangers to the city, Haden welcomed old friends and newcomers alike "to the party."
Throughout the night, Haden revelled in taunting the crowd, pulling drag ball poses and gyrating his hips only to erupt in rage seconds later. He constantly suggested pleasure tinged with pain, the crowd eating it up at every turn.
While his bandmates — Jack Wetmore on guitar, Aaron Shapiro on bass and Ruben Radlauer on drums — held down the fort, Haden spent much of the show stalking the Garrison floor. During the breakdown on "Amaranth," he implored the audience to take a knee with him, only to explode in a teeming mass of bodies when the song kicked back in.
The combination of Haden's come-ons with the lurching, violent nature of Model/Actriz's music should be jarring, like Jake Shears fronting Liars or the Jesus Lizard, but it comes across seamlessly. And the transition to the reflective and downright pretty "Sun In," felt like a natural comedown for band and audience following the hedonism of the previous hour, showing a side of the band that has yet to be fully tapped.
Though they lacked Model/Actriz's knack for theatrics, Toronto up-and-comers Luge were the perfect musical pairing for their firebrand headliners. Their music spans the space between the mutant disco of ESG and the chaotic noise of Lightning Bolt, often in the same song.
Pulling from their just-released I Love it Here, I Live Here, the four-piece proved incredibly adept at translating their complex compositions to the stage, anchored by drummer Eli (singer Kaiva Gotham failed to provide a last name when introducing her bandmate) who was making his live debut with the group. "I know why you're really here — to see Model/Actriz," dead panned Gotham, selling her band — and the larger number of their supporters in the crowd — short.
Within seconds of Model/Actriz taking the stage, Haden's mastery of tension — wielding it like a weapon only to break it with fits of levity or euphoria — became clear as day. As the ominous opening clang of "Donkey Show" set the mood for the next hour, the singer could be seen aggressively applying chapstick to his pursed lips before the hulking lurch of the song kicked in. But it was on "Mosquito" where things really snapped into focus, the crowd shouting back the refrain "With a body count higher than a mosquito" back at the singer. No strangers to the city, Haden welcomed old friends and newcomers alike "to the party."
Throughout the night, Haden revelled in taunting the crowd, pulling drag ball poses and gyrating his hips only to erupt in rage seconds later. He constantly suggested pleasure tinged with pain, the crowd eating it up at every turn.
While his bandmates — Jack Wetmore on guitar, Aaron Shapiro on bass and Ruben Radlauer on drums — held down the fort, Haden spent much of the show stalking the Garrison floor. During the breakdown on "Amaranth," he implored the audience to take a knee with him, only to explode in a teeming mass of bodies when the song kicked back in.
The combination of Haden's come-ons with the lurching, violent nature of Model/Actriz's music should be jarring, like Jake Shears fronting Liars or the Jesus Lizard, but it comes across seamlessly. And the transition to the reflective and downright pretty "Sun In," felt like a natural comedown for band and audience following the hedonism of the previous hour, showing a side of the band that has yet to be fully tapped.