The Wake
Rightfully considered one of the hardest working bands in all of heavy music, Voivod are in the midst of celebrating their 35th anniversary at the moment who continue to prove they can be a touring juggernaut despite the time logged on the odometer. With them being in anniversary mode the set-list promised to include a swathe of classics and crowd favourites and they certainly delivered on that but there was absolutely no denying that it was the newer cuts from The Wake which made the biggest impression on the night.
It felt like a bit of a weird juxtaposition throughout the set - the enthusiasm from the band and crowd was high pretty much all night but there was just something elevated within the new tracks. The band altogether sounded like a more destructive unit when venturing down this route whilst at times sounding a little sloppy for the more familiar tracks, potentially of course due to the fact they've no doubt been going over them in such detail more recently. It was excellent too to see the kind of reaction the crowd had for them rather than "here's another new one" being the standard cue for a drink and piss break. Voivod are a unique enigma within heavy music - vastly rated by so many of their peers yet largely underrated amongst the masses. Just looking across the floor tonight you could see that the large majority of their following felt like a tight-knit community all enthusiastically sharing tales of Voivod shows they'd attended in the past - one big family reunion under the roof of The Underworld.
Overall then, this is a band who, whilst certainly being past their peak as a live unit, still give everything they can to deliver a performance for their vastly dedicated following. A good show that at times needed rejuvenation from some of their newer tracks despite being an anniversary celebration.