Music / Reviews
Review: toe, the Prospect Building – ‘Emotionally sensitive’
Cards on the table, I’m not really a toe-ficianado. But some credentials for reviewing this show at least: I do love me a bit of math-rock; some of my favourite gigs of the last few years include seeing Bi-Curious mercilessly tear up the Croft, watching Elephant Gym mesmerise a sold-out Strange Brew, and head-nodding to an incredible delta sleep set at ArcTangent.
Hot take time: toe were outshone by their local support HAAL tonight at the Prospect Building.
It’s hard to believe that toe, with 25 years of seminal albums under their belt, didn’t excite as much as a local Bristol band who are just finding their audience; but tonight I think it happened.
A striking light show adds headline energy to local act haal’s set – photo: Anna Littlewood-Hillsdon
It’s an unexpectedly chilly April night but warm bass lolls across the yard welcoming us into a surprisingly packed Crane Room just an hour after doors.
HAAL are mid-song: a cool triphop vibe greets us, complete with surreal live visuals displayed on an old school CRT monitor at the edge of stage, ludicrously small in the enormous room.
Is the lighting engineer getting paid by the change in settings? They are going ALL out and it adds a real “headline” energy to their show, doing some heavy atmospheric lifting. The effect amplified literally considering that even with ear plugs jammed in it’s HELLA loud.
The band has a dep drummer with them tonight, Taye George, who does a seriously good job: he looks completely comfortable keeping up with the fast changes in mood.
Without prior knowledge the audience would not have known the drummer was a stand-in – photo: Anna Littlewood-Hillsdon
HAAL can and do switch from heavy post-rock to tender not-quite-but-close emo moments to industrial noise in the space of one song.
There’s some excellent synth work from Ethan Jones, tasteful bass playing from Joe Collins, and vocalist/guitarist Alfie Hay having a wonderful time playing in support for what must clearly be a huge influence on these four.
“This band is one to watch. Catch them as soon as you can,” says our reviewer – photo: Anna Littlewood-Hillsdon
None of this is to say that toe weren’t, for the most part, exquisite.
And they can’t be blamed for being let down by some odd sound-engineering moments including leaving the transition music on as they crashed into their first song, and some inescapable infinite feedback delays which overwhelmed a couple of tender moments.
There is absolutely no doubt toe can PLAY, and they do so with an awful lot of heart.
Guitarists Yamazaki Hirokazu and Mino Takaaki clearly have a unique chemistry and their interlocking riffs are exquisite.
They are totally within the music, guitars thrown around and eyes-closed enraptured moments frequent.
When drummer Kashikura Takashi plays a solo – which is pretty much every song! – he throws himself fully into it, over-the-bar fills rippling, simultaneously totally precise and organic.
For a band described as “largely instrumental” there was a lot of singing tonight from Yamazaki.
Listening to their 2024 record NOW I SEE THE LIGHT the morning after the show, it makes more sense than it did at the time.
He was tentative on the microphone, in juxtaposition to his emphatic and self-assured guitar playing. Speaking to pals in the crowd, there was definitely a sense that they were at their most powerful when sticking to instrumentals.
An absolute highlight came in the last 20 mins when they went full metal – huge distortion pedals stamped on and the whole band thrashing for 20 seconds. It abruptly finished and one voice in the crowd yelled “DO IT AGAIN!”
In a final unexpected moment, a translator came on stage during the encore to read a statement from Yamazaki. With limited English it must be frustrating not to be able to communicate with your audience and it’s a moving sentiment:
“Once you find that one thing I hope you stick with it. If you stick with it that time can be invaluable. For us that thing is toe….. I believe that music and art moves beyond wars”.
FUCK YEAH shouts a voice in the crowd.
Clearly the band has committed themselves to their art and their dedication shines through in their technical ability, but perhaps the emotion Yamazaki refers to here applies more to the act of playing and the band’s connection than it translates to the crowd’s response to their music.
This could explain why he felt so drawn to bringing vocals into this project after years of instrumental albums.
When Yamazaki is singing it’s much closer to an anguished howl than a pop hook, and feels like another level of emotive release from what seems like an emotionally sensitive band.
All images: Alistair Brookes, Kolab
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