The Savage Garden

Exclusive North American Date
Hosted By Tik
Toronto Industrial Kollective
Sunday August 31st, 2003
Labor day long weekend

Jesus H Christ. This show went so far beyond a normal club event, that I find it hard to put into words the atmosphere in Savage for this night. A fully sold out show, a packed room and 3 bands who by the time the night was finished left a spent crowd shell-shocked into complete awe. I knew something special was in the making when at 9pm we had a 60 person lineup to get in and the doors had not even opened. From that point on history was about to be made. The crowd was in its finest anticipating a show of raw energy. The electricity was heavy in the air. By 10.45 as displacer mounted the new Savage stage, the gathering was ready to be spirited away to another place. Displacers set did just that. Starting out as a slow moody ambient, it built to a crescendo of extremely well crafted clean sound finishing with a slow lone melody floating out over the audience. It was a beautiful live translation of displacers moonphase disc, and the perfect foreplay up for what was to come next. Manufactura. In soundcheck Carlos had been saying that he loved to whip a crowd into a frenzy at gigs. Well he has a talent for it. I have never seen so many people slamming and jumping on the Savage dancefloor. The phrase emblazoned across his T-shirt said it all 'fuck your ears' and he did. A wall of layered rhythmic noise with an overlay of angst and attitude. Fists were flung into the air, screams, shouts and who knows what exploded in the pit that the dancefloor had become. Finishing with defiant jump from the stage, he grabbed a towel to the background noise of an ecstatic pumped audience. A 30 min wait and Converter was upon us. A screaming audience, a black room, and one man steps on stage. As the projector threw its first rays of image across the backdrop sound erupted from the wall of speakers. Noise filled the room with a heavy irrepressible tribal thump. Guttural, unrepentant and completely in your face. Converter started to lay down samples from his Roland 909 over a steadily building base of intricately constructed expression. From that point on it just kept building. One crescendo was reached after another. The musical lulls between sound were only fleeting moments in which to catch a breath before the house went crazy again!. Converter spoke to something deep inside. Beyond the the mind and into the core of experience. It was not only heard but felt somewhere deep inside. No words, no images only sensation. It flowed from the stage in waves and the audience was baptized by its message. There is only noise. Looking over at the sound board I saw a row of red clip lights flashing into dangerous levels of overload. Ian (sound from Set To Stun music) was just swaying over his board. With real concern I lent over to see why he wasn't bringing down his levels, he snapped out of his trance for a second long enough to scream "I don't care if a blow a driver or a whole cabinet, this deserves everything I can give it". My god, it shook the building as the Savage sound system demonstrated what it could handle. Converters set was over too soon, and the night was almost done. Then came yet another surprise for the evening. A live jam of noise with Prospero (subsession records) and Scage (newly signed to Ant Zen), Converter, Displacer, and Manufactura. Question what happens when you take five accomplice noise artists and have them Jam together. Something totally amazing. The jam broke down into almost two halves of well layered noise, each separate artist bringing something into the mix and then pulling out again as another would bring in something new. This was totaly live, no midi interfaces between them just 2 boards, a row of synths, keys and five very talented artists. The set finished with Scage modulating beeps and squeaks into the ether, as the crowd broke into a very well deserved round of applause. After that the dubbed Dj music came in, but it seemed hollow and lifeless after so much emotion. The crowd stumbled home sonically and spiritually bruised. This night bears the greatest compliment I can give a noise gig, I and my internal organs are still recovering.

Its almost upon us. The brand new Savage stage and live band set up will be ready to go. The new lights will be installed and this show is going to totally blow you away. If you do nothing else this summer you have to check out this night. Converter will be the one gig of the year, you will kick yourself if you miss it. Tickets are still available but going very fast.

Converter
(ant zen records)
Manufactura (auricle media)
Displacer
(m-tronic records)

TIK presents an ultra special exclusive. Following hot on the heels of the extremely successful and totally amazing mladafronta/Mimetic show at Savage, We are proud to bring you the very top of the foodchain in Rhythmic/power noise. For those that witnessed malada fronta (you know what to expect) for everyone else, Tattoo this date on your foreheads so you wont miss it. Rhythm distorted hard hitting beats encased in a surreal soundscape of electronic tech. We guarantee it will blow your mind.

Tickets
Siren (463 Queen St. W.)
Penguin Music (2 McCaul St.)
Savage Garden (550 Queen St. W.) every Friday night.

Tickets are:
$20 CDN / $15 US - Advance
$25 CDN / $20 US - Door

To purchase tickets online (for people not in the Toronto area), please email T.i.K. at industrialkollective@sympatico.ca for details. Online ticket payment will be done through PayPal, with an additional $1 US per ticket added for PayPal fees.

Tickets on sale beginning July 3.

Converter
Converter is the brainchild of Scott Sturgis, a one-man electro-consortium. Originating in Ohio, but now based in Seattle, Converter began in early 1998, when a growing interest in rhythm-drive sound inspired Sturgis to pursue a rhythmic noise based project. Converter saw its first release in 1999, with Shock Front, a mature work in the same vein as other artists in the Ant-Zen family such as P·A·L, Imminent Starvation and Noisex, as well as well-known rhythmic noise innovators like Sonar and Esplendor Geometrico.Converter investigates the industrial field, without denying its roots. Described as "hard hitting, noise tinged electro-industrial", the music is loaded with infectious and penetrating rhythms perfect for dance floors. Tracks like "Coma", which has become a popular club hit in Toronto, offer machine-driven rhythms with a turbulent downpour of torrential electronics. Bombastic rhythms are coupled with tweaked synths to create an atmosphere of distorted aggression that shows no mercy in its relentless attack on your senses. Sturgis creates paranoid, intense and threatened atmospheres incorporating elements of power noise and analogue electronics.Sturgis has a full resume, boosting projects Pain Station, a split disc with R4 (Dbs/R4), collaboration with Asche and Morgenstern, Xenonics K-30 (a collaboration with Leech from Navicon Torture Technologies), and the recent project Notime to his roster. As well as writing music, Sturgis also began his own label, Auricle Media, with fellow artist Manufacutura.

Manufactura
Manufactura is the low-res, electronic minimalism project from DJ Baracus. Ranging from noise, drill n' bass, trance, electronica, industrial and old school electro, Manufactura utilizes every electronic field as inspiration for its sound structure. Composing time capsules with disturbing samples & distorted equipment.The debut CD from Manufactura, Regression, showcases the beginnings of a journey through the mind of a lunatic. Regression is a collection of eclectic and addictive tracks suited for the dance floor or the bedroom.Here is what people have to say about Manufactura Live:
"If you never seen half ass drunk chix stomp a mosh pit you should have been there. One of the best physical shows I've ever been to!"
"So. The Manufactura show KICKED ASS!!!!! Nuff said."
"That was one of the best fucking live shows I have ever seen!"
"Totally floored us all!"
"Manufactura live was the best thing I've witnessed in a loooong time."

Displacer
Hailing from Toronto, Displacer is the creation of Mike Morton, a young and multi-talented artist. With his debut album "Moon_phase", Displacer demonstrated an incredible maturity in sound and composition. Combining perfectly dark melodies and hi-tech electronics, Displacer creates a dark, brooding atmosphere not be missed. His first Toronto performance at the recent Saturation Bombing concert series was welcomed by all, and hailed as fantastic. To his credit, Displacer has participated in the "Pre-set" compilation released by Mute, two compilations on sub-session records (a label run by three Toronto-based musicians), and has executed some very fine remixes for Beefcake, Implant and Delica.