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> Login to your account > RegisterThe Devin Townsend Project
From page 97 of Classic Rock Magazine June 2011
Cover of June 2011 issue.
London Islington Academy
Joyful insanity from metal’s biggest brain.
Heavy metal artists aren’t supposed to radiate
so much joy, and nor are they supposed to veer so far from the template and still leave their fans in such states of wide-eyed, revelation-struck wonder by the end. But Devin Townsend is a one-off, genuine (piss)artist in whose comic/cosmic worldview you sign up for the wild, kaleidoscopic ride, no matter where it takes you. Tonight, it starts off with projections of his Ziltoid puppet proclaiming partying, coffee and his penile proclivities to a backdrop of eagerly lapped up happy house, before launching into the spiralling, expansive wonder of Addicted! , and ends with a gaggle of fans joining him onstage for a giddy ‘world’s cheesiest song’, Bend It Like Bender! In between, Devin’s ecstatically gurning face, hilarious banter, frictionless tenor and wind-tunnel howl become ceaseless barometers for the life-giving forces of absurdity.
Devin Townsend’s brain is clearly a fissile reaction chamber for wonder, and the two hours onstage leave everyone feeling as though we’ve received enough to inspire a lifetime.
Jonathan Selzer
