by Sabbir Hossain
I had been unaware of the local scene despite being a self-proclaimed “music lover” for much of my youth and adolescence. It wasn’t until I joined Stylus which presented me with a valid excuse to get out of my shell and see what Winnipeg’s vibrant music scene had to offer. There was only one problem — I didn’t even listen to the local artists. Much of my playlists were of artists signed to major record labels. My parents were immigrants and obviously weren’t immersed in the city’s arts or culture, and as a result, neither was I.
This review is from the perspective of someone who is far out-of-the-loop. Needless to say, this left quite the impression on me moving forward. I’m here to discuss the concert that took place at the West End Cultural Centre (WECC) on December 13, 2024: “Oh Holy Night” — The Holy Void Album Release, and that featured Show Pony, and Tired Cossack as the openers. According to the description on the WECC’s website, this event promised to “blend the dark, atmospheric vibes with the high-energy, experimental sounds of prog punk and blistering rock’n’roll, creating an unforgettable holiday experience.” As far as I’m concerned (especially being a novice concert-goer who doesn’t know what this description is supposed to look like), all three acts certainly delivered and I happily left the WECC eager to get my thoughts down.
When I got in, my hand was stamped with a stamp that said “HOT GOTH.” I saw really cool merchandise there but the coolest thing I saw was a guy cosplaying as Krampus and snapped a selfie. I headed inside the auditorium but I was fairly early and arrived as soon as the doors opened, so I watched the crew set up equipment on stage and admired the fancy mixing/lighting board. Soon after, I noticed that people were slowly rolling in and a crowd had already formed and they had one thing in common — they were mostly middle-aged white people — and because of that I felt really awkward being there but luckily this one person sat with me on a stool and we chatted about music and related stuff, and he had apparently graduated from the University of Winnipeg!
The first act of the evening was Tired Cossack, in which all of the four members had a distinct visual style on stage that captured my attention right off the bat, especially the one on the keys who had purple overalls and a nice smile. The lead vocalist’s energy resounded through the entire venue and there was a noticeable difference in the energy from the crowd compared to when the MC was introducing all of the acts. Furthermore, after about three songs, I noticed that people started to groove a lot more and the chemistry between all the members on the stage was a pleasant sight. A few things that stuck out to me from Tired Cossack’s performance were that they played a song that they had never practiced and throughout their set time the feedback from the amp was an intentional choice. This surprised me, as I thought it was faulty production. In retrospect, everything they did exacerbated their carefree sensibility if their music hadn’t already done the job.
I shifted towards the main crowd to get a better feel of the music which consisted of me awkwardly walking towards the left and right side of the venue, and the tone/texture was equally vibrant and rich everywhere, so I went back to my stool where I was sitting because more and more people started to roll in during their set.
After Tired Cossack’s set, it was time for Show Pony. The first show left me intrigued as to what to expect next — according to the show description, this event meant to blend all these atmospheric vibes together but how could a band as distinctive as Tired Cossack possibly be labelled or even sound “similar” to another group? Well, the promoter of the event must have known what they were doing because Show Pony separated themselves while also falling into an overarching mood.
Show Pony’s lead singer exuded dive energy and put on quite the show to say the least. All of the members had relatively long hair and occasionally (and possibly unintentionally) flapped their long hair as if I wasn’t already convinced they were rockstars. In the middle of their set, the lead singer walked off stage during the climax of one of their songs, which left me and some others in the crowd a little confused, especially considering how she captured everyone’s attention so effortlessly. Lo and behold, she came back with a change in top and continued to put on an entertaining and eccentric show. They had switched colours from white to purple on the overhead lights every two bars in a song, which was so smoothly integrated that I don’t think anyone in the center of the crowd would have noticed.
When Show Pony had finished, I could still feel the bass reverberate through the concert hall and my entire body. During this intermission, I was momentarily convinced I was at a beer festival instead of an album release because of all the beer I saw. I was so impressed by the lighting during the show that I went up to the team that handled all of that towards the back of the venue and complimented them. In return, I received an awesome fist-bump and was told that I’d be in for a real treat when Holy Void was on.
Finally, it was time for the headliners to perform. Their MC had some goggles that looked like they might have been worn by Robocop. (I’m fairly uncultured as far as sci-fi goes, so I could be wrong but you get the point.) Their performance sounded a lot better compared to when I listened to their album on Apple Music, yet another reminder that I need to see more live events and stop being chronically online. On the stage, they had lights that looked like prison watchtowers and beamed in a way like they were searching for a suspect in the crowd. One of the member’s guitars also glared light at my face like a sniper from Modern Warfare. For better or worse, the lighting team did not lie when they said I was in for a good one. The drums, bass, and lead guitar all flowed coherently while accompanying the rock sound that came from them — honourable mention to the vocalists and amps.
The crowd chanted “one more song!” right after they supposedly finished their set, and the band came through once more to deliver for the eager folks. Although I couldn’t make out what any of the lyrics were for the entire time I was in attendance for this event, I did leave with a positive impression solely for the drums, lighting, facial expressions, and the characters these artists performed as a part of their show.
Now that I can finally say that I support local talent, I left the WECC feeling very much content and three bands more familiar with the local scene. It was one of those events that make you question how much you had been out of the loop — especially in estimating the number of people in the city who are fiends for craft breweries.
