Prince Innocence

The Garrison, Toronto ON, February 14

Photo: Saty + Pratha

BY Tom BeedhamPublished Feb 15, 2016

8
"I'm gonna make you feel things tonight," Talvi Faustmann promised the Garrison last night. "Bad things. Repressed things."

An anti-Valentine's Day statement if there ever was one, the sentiment was in stark contrast to the general love-in that Wavelength Festival had been up until its final night — and so was Prince Innocence's set. Opting for cold, distant dance music for the broken-hearted, it was hard to think of better antagonists to rally against the commercial holiday, especially since the date marked Faustmann and beatmaker Josh McIntyre's first Valentine's Day onstage together since the dissolve of their romantic relationship last spring.
 
Their performance proved a little tension could go a long way, though, delivering on Faustmann's melancholic promise with a cover of Suicide's "Cheree," hypomania-inspired "Manic" and the apathy-indulging "I Don't Care," while providing a markedly intimate experience with a visual dynamic that had both stage and audience submerged in near-complete darkness save for moments of slight illumination by the light of grainy film projections and blue washes.

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