The Horrors Bring Their Psychedelic Sounds to L’Astral

By: Sun Noor

The Horrors finally made their way back to Montreal last Monday and it was quite the show! Whether it was the excitement resulting from the anticipation or getting the chance to hear some of the songs from their latest number which was released last year titled V, the band undoubtedly left their mark at L’Astral.

Their performance certainly left the audience with something to remember them by. Interestingly, this tour marked their first Montreal performance in nearly eighth years, since their cancelled most of their North American tour dates on their previous run back in 2014. The band also had different local support bands on several of their tour dates. The indie rock outfit Venus Furs joined the band for a couple of their Canadian tour dates.

As always The Horrors’ set consisted primarily of movement. Everything from the lighting details to the band members’ stage presence created a very hallucinatory experience and added quite the kick to their music. As well, the fact that their stage set up was also quite minimalistic directed all of the attention to the musicians instead of the special effects. Nonetheless, having an incredibly detailed backdrop and plenty of props on stage would not have taken any of the focus from the band. In fact, it seemed as though the audience simply could not get enough of frontman Farris Badwan’s strange and slightly menacing yet captivating stage presence. His overly exaggerated antics involved whiling his microphone cord around the stage and various strange dance moves. Although he appeared to be disconnected from the audience due to his lack of interaction, his energy made him appear quite present. Badwan’s stylistic choices were also quite interesting. His outfit mostly consisted of leather, dark, heavy makeup and a mesh shirt which was very reminiscent of a cross between Sid Vicious and Siouxie Sioux circa 1980s. This show’s setlist was V heavy but also included a good balance of songs from their catalogue, which was enjoyable!

The set list was comprised of:

1. “Hologram”
2. “Machine”
3. “Who Can Say”
4. “Mirror’s Image”
5. “In and Out of Sight”
6. “Sea Within a Sea”
7. “Weighed Down”
8. “Press Enter to Exit”
9. “Endless Blue”
10. “Shell Life”
11. “Ghost” (encore)
12. “Something to Remember Me By” (encore)

The Horrors are due to culminate their North American tour in California later on this week before heading back to Europe for a few dates. Click here to purchase tickets.

Download/ stream V here!

Here are more pictures from the show:

Watch the video for “Something to Remember me by” below: