Trentemøller Brings the Dreamweavers to Toronto

If you were at the Axis Club on February 6th, you probably had no idea what was in store. Sure, many lined up to see Danish artist Trentemøller, but no one had any idea of the intensity and the sheer talent that would bless their ears that night. Even for people who weren't fans of electric music, Trentemøller with support from local band, Fresh Snow would be sure to change minds by the end of their show.

For a brief moment, the Axis Club went dark, awaiting the arrival of the openers. When the lights came back on, the room was bathed in red light, and the four members of Fresh Snow came out clad in dark clothing and accessorized with welding visors to hide their faces. If you're a fan of Star Wars, you'd probably think all the members looked like Sith Lords.

As soon as this band took the stage, electronic rock music filled the room thanks to guitarist/keyboardist Tim Condon and guitarist Brad Davis, with lots of screechy distortion and heavy bass from bassist/keyboardist Andy Lloyd and wild beats from drummer Jon Mackie to go along with the image Fresh Snow was presenting: dark, intense and fierce.

Halfway through their set, cloaked violist Laura C. Bates of local Toronto band Volur emerged from side stage with an electric violin hooked up to a pedal board, and started to play with the rest of the band, bringing a new sound to weave into the previously dark edm/electronic sound. Bates worked with the rest of the band to amplify the screeching sounds they all made with their instruments and keyboards.

They played off each other's sounds, interacting and playing with each other on stage even though they had no vocals. All throughout, the lights went crazy, even strobing along to the beat of the drums or bass. This made everything feel that much more in the moment. It was difficult to figure out where one song ended and where another began, but that wasn't a bad thing this time; the audience got lost in the music and magic of the moment. Fresh Snow finished on a very bass heavy note with lots of flashing lights, playing and interacting with one another before the masked performers left the stage.

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After a short break, Trentemøller brought his act to the stage, and for the first time has been supported by a live band. This five piece powerhouse brought so many different sounds to the stage, from calming shoegaze-y beats to dark, rave-y edm music. Trentemøller, with help from DÍsa Jakobs (guitar, vocals, synth), Brian Batz (guitar), Jacob Haubjerg (bass, vocals), and Silas Tinglef (drums) made sure the Axis Club was entranced by their unique performance from the moment they entered the stage to the moment they left.

The setlist was split in a very interesting way. In the beginning, the lights were all white, as was the backing screen. The set started off with I Give My Tears. Jakobs's flowy and haunting voice made for a very calming beginning to the night. But don't let this fool you; soon enough energy would pick up very quickly. So much so that anywhere in the venue, you could feel the bass in your chest, almost as if you were at a metal show.

Although Jakobs sang a few times, the set was mostly instrumental, which was quite an interesting experience. It allowed the individual layers and sounds of the music shine through and made it so the audience had time to appreciate the little details in the music and all the interesting sounds made by every member of the band, especially Trentemøller, who made a variety of incredible sounds with his three keyboards.

The switch of the lights from white to blue brought a whole new experience to the concert. The blue lights brought this tinny, rave like synth sound, but still had that filled out, low-toned bass. It was the kind of music you would wanna dance and jump along to. This time, bassist Jacob Haubjerg got on the mic, sometimes playing and singing, and sometimes just singing. The drums became very heavy and loud and had this distortion around the edges. Eventually it would shift towards a harder gothic rock sound, but still had some traces of rave sounds. Truthfully, it sounded like rave music for a horror movie. But this didn't stop the crowd from jumping around and dancing during this part of the set. The "blue segment" came to an abrupt end with screechy distortion before Trentemøller started to sing a little.

Soon enough, Jakobs started to sing again, bringing back that darkwave/shoegaze feeling and soothing the crowd with her voice after the intensity of the last few songs. Her voice had a lot of reverb, which made they were being played in a tunnel. Couple that with Jakobs's soft and haunting voice, and you have a recipe for a beautiful and slightly unsettling song. It was also interesting to note when the singers switched; When Jakobs sang, the music shifted towards soft rock/shoegaze and when Haubjerg sang, it got heavier.

Finally, the last segment of the setlist got really dark and really red. It was as if the band collectively decided to turn the intensity up to 100 and then some after that. This segment brought forward a very dark electronic sound. By now, everyone in the venue was dancing along. The music was very drum and bass focused, and if you thought there weren't nearly enough drum solos in the earlier parts of the set, fear not. This "red segment" brought out all the drum solos you could ask for during the show. A perfect blend of groovy and heavy, and if you leaned against the railing in the balcony, you could feel it shake with every beat.

At the last song of the encore, the lights went all rainbow, tying off all the different coloured segments of the set. A few electronic and groovy beats later, Trentemøller and the rest of the live band thanked the crowd and left everyone with a buzz in their veins.