| Doors: 6 pm | Show: 8 pm | Tickets: ca. 25.50 - 43.50 EUR plus fees |

The last couple of years have seen the one or the other spectacular and legendary DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT show. Just remember The Retinal Circus, staged on October 27, 2012 at London’s Roundhouse, including various acrobats, contortionists, gospel choirs, and pyro effects; or the Ziltoid Live At The Royal Albert Hall show on April 13, 2015; and the quadruple threat of Ki/Addicted/Deconstruction/Ghost across multiple venues. None of those special shows I wasn’t able to attend.
Now, the year 2017 offers another unique chance – the 20th anniversary of DEVIN TOWNSEND’s first and groundbreaking solo album, Ocean Machine: Biomech. And yeah, this opportunity got widely used ;)

For that, the :: DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT :: selected the breathtaking and beautiful scenery of the ancient :: Amphitheater Philippopolis :: in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, to set up another imposing live event: to play Ocean Machine: Biomech in its entirety, framed by a “by request set”, its songs were selected and voted by the fans around the world prior the event. And this time I did not want to miss this extraordinary event.
No sooner said than done. Right after the announcement, I booked flights and hotels and here we go ;) Let’s start an adventurous ride into the wild east.

:: pics :: (mobile pics only)

The fact that in Bulgaria tickets get printed at every (OMV) gas station was at first confusing but at the end quite funny. Easy handling. Although ticket prices were affordable, the Roman Theater was not sold out. Quite a few tickets were left for the upper seats. And also redundant tickets for sold out golden- and silver circle area did not change hands anymore. It was probably due to the fact that the gross of fans came from every corner of this world. I met guys from the USA, Canada, Australia, all kind of Europeans, even guys from Malta. All those fans of course, arrived with valid tickets. Locals, I guess, could be count on the fingers of one hand or the other. As for them, as measured by the average income, the tickets must have been incredibly expensive.
Right from the beginning, there was a fabulous mood around the theater. So many people gathered hours before the show, to meet, to chat, to have beers and to dwell in the DEVIN TOWNSEND omniverse. You know, a gathering of nerds ;)

However, everybody around here was just happy to take part in this spectacular happening. Well then. Organization, especially regarding tickets and entry did not work as smoothly as wanted. With a slight delay the gates to the theater finally opened at 6.30pm under raving applause. Approx. 4000 fans rushed in to secure the best seats. And that was indeed a challenge, as the original marble stairs down to the theater were narrow, exceptionally steep and slippery. A breakneck affair. Even more, since there were wires running down the main stairs and fans queued for merchandise (a special poster and two kind of shirts), which was sold out within 30 minutes (but is meanwhile available again in the HeavyDevy shop).
Fans were pleased by the beer prices of 3 BGN, which is around 1.50 Euro. The remaining time till the show would be kicked off was filled with lights to adjust them and with music by Anathema, who already played this wonderful theater some time ago (among other famous bands).

Finally, time has come. The first musician of the :: Plovdiv State Opera Orchestra :: showed up and was welcomed with an uproarious.cheering. And so it happened with the whole orchestra and the choir set up on a platform above between the ancient columns. No need to mention that the crowd went mad when DEVIN TOWNSEND and his mates appeared on stage. Devin immediately started talking and first thanked everybody out there who has made this show possible, as well as thanking the audience for being there and their ongoing support.

“This is a dream come true, guys, I can’t even tell you,” he says. “Everyone’s here because we’re all a little socially awkward. Tonight we’re going to see what happens when you get a bunch of nerds in one place!”

He also promised not to talk that much and especially not to talk so much nonsense this time as he didn’t want to make the editing of the BlueRay so painful afterwards ;) Well… he more or less kept to that ;) He dedicated the song Deadhead to his wife and Canada to, well, Canada. As one might have sensed out already, the first part of the evening was the set by request, accompanied by the Plovdiv State Opera Orchestra. And this set revealed quite many gems such as Om, Deep Peace and A Simple Lullaby, among other ones. Some rarely or never ever played live. When Devin shouted “Fire!” in A Simple Lullaby, flames shot upwards in the air and at the end of the song, a real firework replaced the one on in the song. Aaahhh… That was awesome! Fans went into raptures and thanked with standing ovations.

The sound was extremely powerful but unbalanced. You could in fact hear the beat of a single triangle but hardly ever heard elements of the orchestra and the choir. I just hope for a better outcome on the DVD. Although running over one and a half hour, the first set passed in a blur. Too soon the DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT released us into a 30 minutes break.

Setlist „By Request with orchestra: Truth, Stormbending, Om, Failure, By Your Command, Gaia, Deadhead, Canada, Bad Devil, Higher, A Simple Lullaby, Deep Peace

Instead of relaxing or resting, the band members walked around, shook hands and talked to the fans. So intensively, that Devin himself almost missed his cue ;) Meanwhile, stage scenery has drastically changed. Or let’s say, it got minimalized. Orchestra and choir disappeared. Ryan Van Poederooyens drumkit was put into the center, keyboards and the guitar board to the right and to the left… a chair.
Those, who wondered, as I did, did not need to wait long as original Ocean Machine: Biomech bassist John ‘Squid’ Harder was helped on stage and played his bass while seated.
Now, hardly any fan was able to remain seated. Most of them stood the whole set, others jumped up every now and then, raised their fists, screamed and sang along. But perhaps, that need for movement was due to the rapidly dropping temperatures ;)
However, here I have to confess that I didn’t listen to Ocean Machine: Biomech for a long time and thus had completely forgotten how fucking awesome this record is. Especially the second part of the album from Regulator on goes under your skin. The acoustic performance of Sister and another sea of lights caused goosebumps. At The Death Of Music I even had tears in my eyes. How fucking emotional. Touching. Incredibly awesome. What a show!
With Things Beyond Things fading out this memorable evening came to an end. Of course, fans chanted for more. But what else the DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT could have played afterwards without destroying this unique atmosphere? So, once again the band thanked everybody, again and again, from the bottoms of their hearts and eventually said goodbye.

Yes, this show was truly special. The location was special. Everything was special and for (almost) nothing in this world, I would have skipped this event. It was not perfect, sure, the unbalanced sound as mentioned. And Devin had to face increasing problems with his voice. But it was the perfect idea and the perfect place. It was perfect to be there and to be able to enjoy this show. Band and orchestra played with hearts and soul, fully dedicated, with love and passion and fans responded with nothing but love. It couldn’t have been any better. One generally should never miss a DEVIN TOWNSEND show. But for such special event he and his band is worth to travel the world!

Setlist Ocean Machine: Biomech: Seventh Wave, Life, Night, Hide Nowhere, Sister, 3 A.M., Voices In The Fan, Greetings, Regulator, Funeral, Bastard (1/Not One Of The Better Days, 2/The Girl From Blue City), The Death Of Music, Things Beyond Things

story & pics © Dajana & Dajana Winkel • Photography