Montreal native Tim Hecker walked onto the darkened Rialto stage with only the very dimmest house lights illuminating the venue. In near-darkness, he slowly built up the sonic components of "Prism," the opening track from his soon-to-be-released Virgins. Live, Hecker's sound takes on a totally different character, trading in pensive ambience for skull-crushing, bass-driven walls of sound. Like an earthquake in slow motion — the sounds of china and glass shattering included — his compositions were deliberate and powerful, sublime in their magnitude and visceral in their delivery. He eventually segued into "Virginal I" and Ravedeath, 1972's "Piano Drop," although distinguishing Hecker's individual songs does his hypnotizing set a disservice; it's the overall effect of his single, gorgeously transitioning tone poem that affected the body and mind so strongly. Hell, someone even tried to clap along.
See more photos from Pop Montreal in our gallery here.
See more photos from Pop Montreal in our gallery here.