UNCLE ACID AND THE DEADBEATS | MESSA

THE SETUP…

Back to the Danforth, this time with an even rarer offering of music not typical for this venue, though the headliner is all too familiar with it. A double dose of doom metal on a Tuesday night, near the end of a tour leg: Uncle Acid And The Deadbeats return to Toronto after visiting over a year ago, bringing Italy’s own Messa to the city for the first time.

MESSA

I struggle to remember, in my concert-going days, hearing so many friends rant and rave about a band I didn’t know at all; at least a handful were stoked for Messa, from Italy, opening the night. This eclectic four-piece band got off to a slow, droning, atmospheric vibe right out of the gate, heavy enough to headbang to thanks to the bass chugging away, but also melodic. The guitar notes were equally melodic and then screaming, with added effect as the guitarist tilted the guitar parallel to the body. The vocals complemented everything well, at first indistinguishable because the speakers weren’t loud enough, but the band quickly fixed that before the first song was over. Rounding out the four-piece, the drums kept everyone else in time. They didn’t say much between songs, but they mentioned how heavy ‘The Dress’ was, describing it as a “pretty intimate and painful song” about self-image doubts and not liking what you see. With the crowd, the tempo and volume picked up for most of the performance, like climbing a mountain. The band saved the best song for last with ‘Rubedo,’ complete with the stage ambiance switching to red, and quickly thanked the crowd for showing up early. First impressions aside, the crowd responded loudly and positively, and I’m sure Messa will grace us sooner rather than later.

SETLIST
‘Fire On The Roof’, ‘At Races’, ‘The Dress’, ‘Immolation’, ‘(Unknown)’, ‘(Unknown)’, ‘Rubedo’

UNCLE ACID AND THE DEADBEATS

Having never seen this band and hearing their most recent release, I knew I had to see them live. Of course, “what is old is new again” is the perfect moniker for the band, even though they call themselves “the UK’s third worst psycho rock group.” With a name like Uncle Acid And The Deadbeats, being from England and primarily a psychedelic rock band, the band’s intro on the screen was a complete throwback to ’70s films and moviegoing. With a “warning” about not smoking in the auditorium—instead choosing other areas of the venue, which was permitted back then—the band’s intro screen used the same ’70s spooky-horror font as the band name and the sound. The five-piece came onto stage with all of the stringed members gathering around the drum kit; in no time whatsoever, the guitar vocalist “Uncle Acid” stomped his feet in cadence with the drums for the opening track, ‘Mt. Abraxas’, while the other members of the band headbanged at the same time. By the first minute, the crowd at the barricade was bouncing to the groove and the band’s sheer, apocalyptic-sounding drone. Visually and throughout the course of the night, with the band playing, of course, projector video accompanying the performance was layered with effects that people would say were a hallucination from drugs, or even kaleidoscopic parts of the video from occult movies from that time period, other times just random images akin to Rorschach paintings.

Celebrating the best of the bygone decades of these psychedelic-like genres, the lack of lighting in the venue for this performance really added an extra touch of mystique and mystery for the band, as often throughout the performance, that video screen was the main source of light—to the point you couldn’t even make out all five band members. Truly, eliminating a main sense made the music that much more impactful. Speaking of impact, I would be remiss not to mention the band’s long-standing drummer, Jon Rice. His masterful drumming was phenomenal throughout, and at times the drum hits felt like they’d punch through the stage. The band also pays homage to a hallucinatory sound, going so far as to use vintage equipment for both studio sessions and live; combined with the video screen, it overwhelmingly brings you back to those decades of music. “Good evening, ladies and germmmmms” in an extremely heavy English accent, which is removed when singing, but confidently proclaimed by Uncle Acid at the first moment of speaking. The “ladies and germs” line would be used a few times throughout the night as well. Having just released a brand-new album, Shapes Of Midnight, via Killer Candy Records, the setlist wasn’t dominated by songs from it; instead, most songs came from Blood Lust (2011), while still including tracks from every album but Vol. 1, the debut.

For ninety minutes, the Danforth, and its attendees, were the vessel for time travel. It was a tremendous display of a hypnotic, doom-filled, trippy night of bouncy music at a venue that continues to host Uncle Acid And The Deadbeats when and if they swing by Toronto, as it has been the band’s choice venue for the last four visits.

SETLIST
‘Mt. Abraxas’, ‘Waiting For Blood’, ‘Death’s Door’, ‘Ritual Knife’, ‘House By The Grave’, ‘Bedouin’, ‘Don’t Let It Control You’, ‘Pusher Man’, ‘Melody Lane’, ‘Withered Hand Of Evil’, ‘Only Death Is Your Handcuff’, ‘Shapes Of Midnight’, ‘I’ll Cut You Down’, ‘No Return’