On the heels of his latest release, 2024’s PowerNerd, Devin Townsend is in the middle of a North American tour. Before the tour blasted off in Nashville, the Canadian guitarist/singer announced he would be taking a sabbatical after this series of dates. Touring is a grind, and Townsend wants to attend to some other projects as well as family needs. With that knowledge, I happily had the honor of covering this date of the PowerNerd tour at the Fillmore Silver Spring last Saturday night. Progressive metal veterans Tesseract join Townsend on this tour, his last for the foreseeable future.
UK-based Tesseract (Daniel Tompkins, Acle Kahney, James Monteith, Amos Williams, and Jay Postones) got the night started with an awesome set, getting the crowd primed for Townsend. It was a long set for an opening act, nearly an entire hour, and seemed to thrill the Fillmore crowd, which was populated with many Tesseract fans. The knockout set leaned heavily on tracks from their latest album, 2023’s War of Being. The stage set up was simple but effective, utilizing backlighting to create a futuristic feel to their performance.
Founded in 2003, Tesseract is credited as a pioneer in progressive metal’s djent movement, which included genre giant Meshuggah. Early in the set, the frontman addressed the crowd, mentioning that Tesseract had also toured with Townsend 15 years prior. Previously unfamiliar with the band, I was impressed with the skill and maturity of the men. It’s clear Tesseract has earned its place in the progressive metal scene.
Devin Townsend has close to 30 albums under his belt over as many years, and, as mentioned at the outset, his latest album is PowerNerd. Considered a more straightforward album compared to others, the music was written in an eye-popping total of 11 days. It has also been described as “adorable”—not something one tends to read about metal albums. After seeing Townsend live for the first time Saturday night, I think I get it—live, he’s engaging and delightful. In the pit, I found myself grinning through those first three songs, rather than grimacing.
With walk-on music like the theme from The Muppet Show, I should have known it would be a good time. Townsend is known for making music that spans genres, and the set reflected the wide span of his career, only two songs from PowerNerd made an appearance. Heavy metal (“Love?”) made way for more introspective songs (“Deep Peace” ran nine minutes!). His backing band mostly stood in the shadows but made themselves known nonetheless, as they were outstanding.
I’ll just reiterate that I had no idea what to expect going into the show, but found Townsend’s stage presence endearing. He’s equal parts snarling metal vocalist and fun party emcee—even reaching over my head to grab a drawing a fan was waving at him in the middle of a song. Given Townsend’s impending break, which will be “indefinite,” as he has put it, you are strongly encouraged to catch one of the remaining dates of the PowerNerd tour. His fans will, without a doubt, be waiting patiently for his return to the stage.
The PowerNerd tour of North America continues through May, wrapping up in Los Angeles on May 23.
TESSERACT
