{"id":11539,"date":"2019-10-10T11:53:56","date_gmt":"2019-10-10T16:53:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/?p=11539"},"modified":"2026-05-07T19:37:14","modified_gmt":"2026-05-08T00:37:14","slug":"ken-mode-20-years-of-bringing-the-noise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/2019\/10\/10\/ken-mode-20-years-of-bringing-the-noise\/","title":{"rendered":"KEN mode \u2013 20 Years of Bringing the Noise"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
@jessmannphotography <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Words<\/strong> by Chris Bryson<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Photos by Jess Mann<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the time got closer to 10 p.m. on Friday, October 4th<\/sup>, The Good Will was filling up with music fans ready for a night full of ferocious art. Nobody was let down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

It was the dark noise-metal of Saskatoon\u2019s Adolyne and the\nmonstrous shifting sludge metal of Montr\u00e9al\u2019s The Great Sabatini that\nrightfully set the stage and amped the crowd for KEN mode\u2019s 20th<\/sup>\nanniversary set. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an interview before the show KEN mode\u2019s vocalist and guitarist Jesse Matthewson said that rehearsals were beating the crap out of him, and the hardest part in prepping for the show had been the endurance test. The band slammed through their almost hour and ten-minute-long marathon set of songs spanning from 2006\u2019s Reprisal <\/em>to 2018\u2019s Loved<\/em> with the intensity and craft of seasoned veterans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

KEN mode kicked off the night with the driving fury of\n\u201cFeathers & Lips\u201d and ended the main part of their set off with the\nchugging rage of \u201cNo Gentle Art,\u201d both from 2018\u2019s Loved.<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Throughout the show KEN mode cycled through four bassists who have played with the band over the years. Describing the intent behind this, Matthewson said that with diving into their back catalog and performing material they hadn\u2019t played in a long time, they wanted to bring up some of the guys who wrote the songs with them. So throughout the night Jesse and his brother Shane, the relentless force behind the drum kit, were joined by bassists Skot Hamilton, Chad Tremblay, Darryl Laxdal, and Drew Johnston.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
@jessmannphotography <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The selection of songs throughout the night kept fans\neagerly engaged as KEN mode pulled out highlight tracks and their personal\nfavourites from over the years, and even played some songs like \u201cFractures In\nAdults,\u201d which they had yet to perform live. For their encore they brought out\n\u201cCounter Culture Complex\u201d from 2013\u2019s Entrench<\/em> and closed the night down\nwith the slow-building shimmering whirl of \u201cDead Actors\u201d from 2015\u2019s Success.<\/em>\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For such a commemorative event for a band that has continued to push what it does on the fringes of noise, punk, metal, sludge, and hardcore, KEN mode\u2019s 20th<\/sup> anniversary show went beyond expectations and honoured their legacy in the best way they can; loud and heavy and angry as hell, but in the friendliest way possible. It was a night to behold for all of those in attendance, and after 20 years at it, this show was a bold statement that KEN mode are the best at what they do. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
@jessmannphotography <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

For the future of KEN mode Matthewson is eager to get back\ninto writing and creating new material, and like previous releases, wants to do\nnew things with the band\u2019s sound. \u201cI want to get more fucked up jazz in there,\u201d\nsays Matthewson. \u201cMaybe some more electronic type influence looming over top of\nit, so we\u2019ll see how we execute it. I have kind of an idea, an aesthetic in my\nhead, but I don\u2019t know how to execute it yet, so we\u2019ll figure that out.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the most fun part for me, writing and making records,\u201d says Matthewson. \u201cPlaying shows is alright, but it\u2019s so stressful to me. I\u2019m looking forward to this being over so we can concentrate on the more chilled out part.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
@jessmannphotography


<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
@jessmannphotography <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
@jessmannphotography <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Words by Chris Bryson Photos by Jess Mann As the time got closer to 10 p.m. on Friday, October 4th, The Good Will was filling up with music fans ready for a night full of ferocious art. Nobody was let down.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":11542,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,6,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11539","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","category-gallery","category-live-bait"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11539","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11539"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11539\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11553,"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11539\/revisions\/11553"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11542"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11539"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11539"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11539"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}