Tour Dates

11/11/15 Winnipeg, MB West End Cultural Centre

11/12/15 Saskatoon, SK O'Brian's Event Centre

11/13/15 Edmonton, AB The Starlite Room

11/14/15 Calgary, AB Dickens Pub

11/16/15 Vancouver, BC The Rickshaw Theatre

11/17/15 Portland, OR Hawthorne Theatre

11/18/15 Seattle, WA Chop Suey

11/20/15 San Francisco, CA DNA Lounge

11/21/15 Anaheim, CA House Of Blues

11/23/15 San Diego, CA House Of Blues

11/24/15 West Hollywood, CA Troubadour

11/25/15 Mesa, AZ Club Red Theaters

11/27/15 Salt Lake City, UT The Complex

11/28/15 Denver, CO Summit Music Hall

11/29/15 Albuquerque, NM Sunshine Theatre

12/01/15 Austin, TX Empire Control Room

12/02/15 Dallas, TX Trees

12/04/15 Atlanta, GA The Masquerade

12/05/15 Winston-Salem, NC Ziggy's

12/06/15 Baltimore, MD Baltimore Soundstage

12/07/15 New York, NY Irving Plaza

03/01/16 Berlin, Germany Magnet Club

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TesseracT

Tesseract is back in Minneapolis with their "Altered State North America 2014" tour.
We last saw the band at the same venue ..â€¦

The Contortionist

Bottom heavy open chords that resonate strong enough to shake the core of the earth. Skyrocketing bursts of oscillating guitar leads layer an ominous and dark undercurrent of rhythm ..â€¦

British prog-metal band TesseracT is back in Minneapolis, in support of their third studio album Polaris (Kscope). We previously caught the band when they played the Skyway Theatre in 2013.

One of the opener, The Contortionist, is a band unlike many others. They are metal but they aren't metal. The type of metal these guys play is a kick to the face if you aren't ready for it. I was ready for it but my jaw still hit the ground when they started playing.

The crowd barely moved last night except for a small pit that was desperately trying to break out during a couple of The Contortionist's songs. Why go to a concert and just stand there? You may as well listen to the band's CD at home really loud. It's essentially the same thing if you're not going to move.

Last night was the exception to that rule. You couldn't help but stand there and get your face melted by all of the bands especially The Contortionist.

The Contortionist is nothing short of a tech-metal band. Their riffs are complicated. The time signatures are complicated. The vocals are complicated. Hell, everything about them is complicated and I mean that in the best way.

It is chaos in music form. It is simple but at the same time complicated. It is loud, but it is so quiet. It makes you feel angry, happy, sad… everything all at once.

You really can't dance to their music. It's hard to even tap your toes or nod your head to it. Finding a solid beat is near impossible especially when seeing it live. Right when you think you've found it, you lose it when they either change the time signature or you start watching them play.

I was mesmerized by watching the guitarists. The way their hands can move with such speed and precision is jaw dropping. Watching singer Michael Lessard bounce around the stage is astounding. His voice transforms into so many different genres in a matter of a couple of words but it all seems to flow together.

Last night wasn't exciting. There are no epic mosh pits to write about. There was no confetti cannon or fake blood coming at my face. There was just me, a packed house with a few friends spattered in and some music that, in some odd way, reminded me of home.

It was perfect.