Vancouver theatrical metal band 2 Shadows are excited to return to Lethbridge to play the new Smokehouse as part of their “Feed the Obscene” tour.
Their first cross Canada tour takes them out to Montreal and back. They play the Smokehouse, May 18 with local bands Bring Your Own Bodies, Revanchist and fellow Vancouverites, post hardcore band This Gun For Hire.
“The tour is going great. We’ve already played our home of Vancouver and Kamloops and Kelowna and Calgary,” said frontman Mike Horvath who is looking forward to playing the new location of the Smokehouse.
“We’ve played the Smokehouse a couple of times and we always love it. Audiences in Lethbridge, whether it‘s 15 or 20 people, are always the loudest,” said Horvath from “somewhere in the middle of Saskatchewan,” en route to a gig in Selkirk, Manitoba.
“They’re always really excited and rowdy,” he continued.
They are still supporting their 2016 album “Transference,” and are working on new music.
“Transference really is a ride — a rollercoaster of emotions,” he described We have two new songs we’re playing now. A heavier one and a ballad, which we‘re really excited about,” he said.
“We’ve got four others that still need some work and we want to write one more so we can release a six song EP later this year,” he continued.
Transference was released in 2016. It’s been out for a year, and we’ve grown as a band,” he said.
“ All the bands we grew up listening to like Motley Crüe and Avenged Sevenfold have ballads,” he said adding switching gears makes audiences appreciate the heavier songs all the more.
Like all of the lyrics, this one is very personal.
“I write most of the lyrics, but I’ll bring them to the band if they have some ideas,” he said.
“The new heavier song is about people who make you feel insignificant. It has a working title of ‘Mouth Breather.’ The ballad is about a family member with a terminal illness, I wrote it as a tribute to honour that person,” he said.
“ They’re just about my personal experiences and life, which I hope other people will be able to identify with,” he said.
The stage show and makeup they wear are an important aspect of the band.
The stage show keeps getting bigger and better. We never want people leaving thinking we were boring,“ he said.
“We never grew up planning to be a band that wore make up. It so happened that we grew up listening to bands like Slipknot and Alice Cooper, Rob Zombie and Marilyn Manson who wear make-up. We liked the music,” he said adding they were also drawn to the visual aspect of their performances.
“ But we aren’t trying to copy them,” he said.
Doors open at 7 p.m. with Ravenchist beginning at 8 p.m., followed by This Gun For Hire, 2 Shadows and Bring Your Own Bodies closing the night at 11 p.m.
There is a $10 cover for the show.
