In September of 2016, the lads of Haken hit North America in support of their most recent album, ‘Affinity’. Nearly one year later, they have returned to Toronto, this time for their very own 10th Anniversary Tour, with the instrumental prog act Sithu Aye along for the ride.
As the Haken-bedecked crowd gathered at Lee’s Palace, local openers Odd Ones hit the stage. While definitely a good fit for the bill due to (like Haken) their obvious Dream Theater influence, they were also pop-punk enough to remind me of old school Blink-182. Singer Jeanette Ricasio had a great voice and stage presence, although her style combined with the band’s general happy tone gave off a technical Disney channel theme song vibe – which, to be fair, could be a great stepping stone for kids getting into progressive music. But they were catchy and very talented, particularly guitarist Richard Nguyen, who was really the one who made Odd Ones fit so well appearing before Haken’s guest on this tour, Sithu Aye.
Speaking of the Scottish Aaron Marshall (I went there), Sithu and his backing band demonstrated their insane technical prowess from start to finish, providing a nice palette cleanser between such predominant vocalists. Apart from being ridiculously and naturally gifted, touring guitarist Liam McLaughlin seems to take his name seriously, having the most entertaining smile on his face throughout 99% of their set. It’s always refreshing to see musicians genuinely having the time of their life on stage. With bassist Jack Elliot, and Jamie Black behind the kit, Sithu Aye was in great company, and the entire band put on a very tight and energetic show.
Finally, Haken filed on to tumultuous applause, starting off with “Premonition”. They performed a few tracks from all four studio albums, primarily ‘Affinity’ and 2011’s ‘Visions’, including “1985”, “The Endless Knot”, “Insomnia”, and “Nocturnal Conspiracy”. The epic, 20-minute song “Visions” was also played as the encore, which was a definite highlight in everyone’s book. Frontman Ross Jennings was not only consistent in his usual melodic delivery, but intensely fantastic during his brief deep growls as well, especially while filling in Einar Solberg’s guest spot on the album version of “The Architect”. While only “In Memoriam” and “Cockroach King” represented ‘The Mountain’, Haken made up for it twice over with a superb ‘Aquarius’ medley, which featured excerpts of the entire first full-length album, from “The Point of No Return” and “Streams” to “Drowning In The Flood” and “Celestial Elixir”.
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For me, the only thing that could have pushed this setlist above and beyond would have been to hear something from the early ‘Enter the 5th Dimension’ demo, or the more recent ‘Restoration’ EP, but after such a clean and mind-blowing display, one can hardly be disappointed. With Jennings’ never faltering voice, Henshall and Griffiths slaying the guitars, Diego Tejeida bringing out the key-tar and showing off wizardly skill, bassist Conner Green delivering his usual tight groove plus backing vocals, and drummer Ray Hearne holding all of the insanity together… from ‘Aquarius’ to ‘Affinity’, it’s safe to say that if you’re lucky enough to have access to one of the many dates left on this tour, you do not want to miss out.
Also check out our photo gallery here!