Pallbearer, REZN & The Keening Bring a Trifecta of Doom to Velvet Underground [Photos]

With fans complaining about the high costs of live entertainment, there are still numerous opportunities to see live music at a reasonable price. A case in point would be Sunday night’s Velvet Underground performances by Pallbearer, REZN, and The Keening for around 40 dollars (fees included).

All three bands have new albums to support: Pallbearer (Little Rock, Arkansas) are touring their latest album, Mind Burns Alive (Nuclear Blast); REZN (Chicago, Illinois) are touring behind Burden (Sargent House); and The Keening (Portland Oregon) are touring a new album entitled Little Bird (Relapse Records).

It was quickly obvious that the three bands’ musical genres blended well together. The show offered excellent value for the cost of admission. Two tables filled with reasonably priced merchandise could be found at the back of the venue. Band members stopped by to chat with patrons who were willing to engage them in conversation.

When searching the web for details on the band, I just realized The Keening was Rebecca Vernon (ex-SubRosa). They perform live as a five-piece band centred around Vernon and her bad-ass-looking violin, a shortly stalked instrument with a body resembling a prehistoric bird’s rib cage constructed out of dark wood. Their sound was beautiful, menacing, and unique. I’d known nothing about them before seeing them live and enjoyed what I saw enough that I’d see them again if they came back around.

I believe REZN last performed in Toronto, opening for Russian Circles at the Opera House. I was at that show and liked what I saw, so I was looking forward to getting another earful of their intricate and heavy material. With their new album Burden only a week old and their last album Solace only a year old, fans this evening got to witness material from both of these albums live for the first time. REZN’s sound was heavy and featured an overall accoutrement of crispness. I’m not 100 percent sure where it originated from.

Rob McWilliams (vocals, guitar) and Phil Cangelosi (bass) utilize guitars that feature metallic necks. Perhaps these instruments cast a different pitch/sound to their material? It was like a tuning fork effect woven into the seven songs they played live this evening. It all sounded great, and some genuine moments of technicality to REZN’s performance this evening made patrons in the room smile. One thing is sure: Patrick Dunn plays a mean set of drums. Dunn and Cangelosi were locked in for this entire 45-minute performance. Spencer Ouellette showcased his fine saxophone work numerous times throughout REZN’s set. He even got an encore when Pallbearer brought him onstage to perform “Endless Place” an hour later.

Pallbearer’s Brett Campbell, Devin Holt, Joseph D. Rowland, and Mark Lierly took the stage at 9:25 pm. They worked their way through nine songs, over an hour showcasing material from their latest album, Mind Burns Alive (which saw its release about a month ago). They played five of the six songs from that record, mixing in a few fan favourites to round out their set.

Brett Campbell addressed the audience a few times as they played, but overall, the three bands kept quiet this evening, letting their songcraft speak for them. One of the tracks on the new album is entitled “Where the Light Fades,” an appropriate tagline for this evening’s show given the low lighting throughout all the bands. The photography included here has been heavily worked on, but it captures the gist of the event.

The final word? It was a good night out featuring three exciting bands. It was pretty loud – don’t be afraid to stick earplugs in if you attend a show on this run of dates.

Pallbearer (w/ REZN, The Keening) @ Velvet Underground (Toronto, ON) on June 23, 2024

33 photos

Pallbearer Setlist Toronto:

Silver Wings
Mind Burns Alive
Fear and Fury
Where the Light Fades
The Ghost I Used to Be
Endless Place (w/ Spencer Ouellette from REZN on saxophone)
Signals
With Disease
Foreigner

Rezn Setlist Toronto:

Possession
Chasm
Optic Echo
Faded and Fleeting
Stasis
Indigo
Relax