November 17,2001 at the Opera House(Toronto) promoted by local DJ Phink :
 
 
 

note: in case the pics don't show, first try a ReFresh then try this URL - it has older text.

from start to finish....

Things started late as there was a rather large crowd awaiting entry to the venue. As a treat, Ronan Harris arrived by Cab with a friend in front with a Digital Camcorder & got a long panning shot of the charged fans in the line-up that went down the side street and beyond the tourbus! I believe delayed stage setup had the crowd in late. Icon of Coil(link coming) opened and had to shorten their Set due to time constraints(again due to tear down & travel to the next night's show in Montréal, Que).

A very short break between bands & the lights went out and VNV's new Stageshow started. Samples, Synths & 2 large projection screens showed harmful chemical & global issues along with VNV Logos. Ronan arrived to cheers from the audience. Many were from out-of-town(Mich, NY & Que), and the usual glum Toronto Audience was energetic giving back to the performers. "Hands in the Air" & Clapping in unison are not typical Toronto alt-show ocurrences. Lead Vocals were clear as the singer paraded to either side of the Stage area. UK-based Ronan set up residence in Toronto years ago then left in 1996 so it was sort of a homecoming show for him. I was glad there was such a good audience response to welcome him.

The Set was long for a typical EBM band set but, they do have a 6-year repetoire now. I had heard that the previous evening's Chicago Show went very late. A new stageshow was debuted there and was the reason that limited interviews were being done during the first 4 showdates. A brief banter with audience members brought on 2(or possibly 3) encores. I guess Ronan was not thinking of getting on the overnight bus at that point. To compliment, bandmate Mark Jackson was on percussion on a small platform(& electronic keyboard upfront for the last tunes). Their message was simple: to paraphrase, [Peace & Hope] Enjoy yourself at the Party regardless of the other people have to say. They performed Dark Angel near the end.  Their last show in Toronto was in Oct.2000 where they had a few technical snags.

  

An overall fun event as most euro-acts exude that more than the more pessimistic North American artists. Next up fof VNV, "Beloved" has been chosen as the second single and will be out on January 7th, 2002. Their delayed 11 track CD "Futureperfect" has been set for January 28th, 2002 on Dependent Records(Germany) & Metropolis Records (Stateside) on Jan.08 & Jan.29 respectively. Unfortunately for me, I did not have a chance to speak with tour manager Stefan Herwig about any possible upcoming Skinny Puppy Dates in Europe 2002/3!

  

For those who were there, you noticed that the VNV part of the merch booth was completely sold except for posters prior to them taking the stage. I do have a short video clip of them performing their current single 'Genesis' live & will be post as soon as I can find a FTP Site that will accept 8MB+ single file uploads.

  

- Victory not Vengeance -

  

VNV Nation's North American "Futureperfect" Fall 2001 Tour dates:

Nov. 16 Chicago, IL The Vic

Nov. 17 Toronto, ONT Opera House

Nov. 18 Montréal, Que club soda

Nov. 21 Boston, MA

Nov. 22 New York City, NY Limelight

Nov. 24 Philadelphia, PA Trocadero

Nov. 25 Washington, DC Nation

Nov. 28 New Orleans, LA Shim Sham Club

Dec. 02 Albuquerque, NM Sunshine Theatre

Dec. 05 Hollywood, CA The Palace

Dec. 06 San Francisco, CA DNA Lounge

Dec. 09 Vancouver, BC The Rage

Dec. 11 Edmonton, Alta New City Suburbs

 

Recently, "Forsaken," was picked up for a flash-animated tribute to Sept. 11 by Sanctuary nightclub in Sacramento, Calif. "I’m amazed that I wrote a song that expresses something so deeply personal for myself, and that somebody chose it to express the same emotion on a national scale for a national event of this magnitude," he said. "I’m flattered that they found it appropriate, but I hope that a VNV Nation song or any other song is never needed again for such a purpose." _RH

     

Note:
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references:

H¥PHEN.01 Studios
[email protected]
 
 

Web Links:

to VNV Nation Homepage

to VNV Nation Homepage(UK)

to VNV Nation(German) Homepage

to Dependent Records Homepage

to old H¥PHEN.One Homepage

to H¥PHEN.One Works List

 

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