Live Review: Devin Townsend Project, Toehider

A venue change and sold-out status seems to have amped up the palpable buzz that has already settled in at The Hi-Fi, which means when openers Toehider kick off there are more than enough heads present to get bopping down the front. The Melbourne four-piece are clearly a Devin pick; upbeat, tight as, a bizarre mish-mash of pop, glam rock and progressive metal, their distinct sound isn't lost on this crowd, but most of the fuzzy bass is. Singer Mike Mills has a top set of falsetto pipes on him, impressing seasoned metallers. He laps it all up as he and his players whizz through a set that bounces around favourite The Most Popular Girl In School and the group's crazy 12in12 releases (that's 12 LPs in 12 months).

It's hard to know what to expect from Devin Townsend Project tonight; if the wizard of extreme metal delves into his magic pouch of old gems from across his prolific catalogue, we will be very spoilt indeed. One thing's for sure; the maniacal virtuoso won't disappoint on the fun factor if previous shows are any indication. The much-loved man with little on the top but masses everywhere else bursts on stage, altogether humanely joyous and batshit crazy at the same time. He launches his three players into Truth and the crowd goes nuts. Christeen, from Infinity, makes an appearance, and there's a healthy amount of new stuff from Epicloud – the title track and Save Our Now – then the punchy but symphonically structured Kingdom, from Physicist. It's just so rewarding to watch this guitar god flog out truly inspiring stuff without ever disengaging from the crowd. In saying that, his enthusiasm and anxious babble bubbles over after his tit-for-tat with Ziltoid. His signature Flying V comes out for Planet Smasher but gets dropped because “we fucked it up”. From anyone else, this self-deprecating diatribe would wear thin, but it's all part of his neurotic charm. In the meantime he busts out an acoustic version (on the Flying V, no less) of Hyperdrive, before crunching the set back into gear with Juular, Bad Devil and Grace.

The first of the “fake” encores is Heatwave, but getting everyone to do jazz hands in Lucky Animals is a highlight. The guys launch another attempt at Planet Smasher then round out the night with Deep Peace, from Terria. Before taking off, Townsend leaps into the pit to literally shake everybody's hands, a rare gesture that should wipe tonight's “fuck-ups” from his mind. They certainly never appeared in ours.