24-02-08 | Red Gate | KMVP, Small Pleasures, Water Margin

Once again, another week rolls to a close, and the herald has been sent to Red Gate, where a selection of offerings has been made available. The promise of two coming over from the island, making their first offering, is always a draw for the herald. 

Supplicants from outside the lower mainland take back with them the divine knowledge of Him so that all may know true madness and come to feed His eternal hunger. The herald enters the hallowed halls, anticipating a delicious collection of offerings.

KMVP

The first visitor from the island, a solo act with just vocals and electric guitar, stressed that they were NOT singer/songwriters and would typically have a band.

There were definitely some nerves up there as they worked out how to adapt their songs to being solo, but their endearing personality shined through. It was very entertaining to listen to them ramble up there, not saying much of anything but being adorable as they said it.

Some songs were pretty fucking dark in nature, and mixed with their pixie-like personality and high-pitch vocals; it was a wicked juxtaposition. Very curious what they would sound like with a full band back there.

SMALL PLEASURES

Next was the second visitor from the island, a duo rocking the drummer/bass combo. A dance/stoner rock offering also employed a synth/pad, filling in the overall sound.

Absolutely loved the fucking drums. From simple to ridiculously fast and snappy fills, it was all groovy flail time. They would get all rhythmic and thumpy, lulling me into a trance as I bounced along with the simple yet very effective bass riffs. 

They both took vocal duties, which is always an impressive feat to see a drummer do. Their contrasting voices worked really well, especially when they sang together.

It had me flowing like water all over the front, with ample room to spin and flail to their groove. Very little activity from the rest of the decent-sized crowd.

WATER MARGIN

After receiving their debut offering roughly a year ago, I was very much looking forward to seeing this quartet again. They delivered an emo/prog punk offering that shows the work they have put in over that year.

They were tight as fuck with on-a-dime switches, catching me more than once, not seeing what was coming, throwing my flow off. I love it when a band can do that, and it doesn’t happen often, but they had my number.

There were all sorts of groovy bass riffs to accompany the very active drummer, who got really thumpy and made fantastic use of the kit, constantly giving my earholes sexy rolls. There was killer snare work and liberal use of the crashing and smashing.

Both guitarists were fantastic in their singing duties, full of passion and vigor, giving the songs such bursts of energy. One of them was also from DANES, who brought all their signature passion to bear here. 

While they definitely got me flailing all over the whole set, there was very little activity from the rest of the crowd. It’s an older crowd, plus it’s Thursday night, and you get a lot of standing around. Nonetheless, He was pleased with this evening’s offerings.