September 20, 2019
Doors at 7:30pm
Show at 8:00pm
$15 tickets at the door or Eventbrite
Silence Presents provides an accessible venue for touring and professional artists to perform for the Guelph community.
Brisbane avant-cellist Rob Knaggs is fast gaining a reputation with audiences for his dynamic walls of sound and live performances that transport them to the northern reaches of his adopted home in the sub-arctic. In the last five years, he’s performed concerts for beluga whales and beneath the northern lights, collaborated with throat singers, played support to Montreal sound wizard Tim Hecker, represented Manitoba at travel conferences across North America, and captivated audiences at the renowned Woodford Folk Festival.
Taking influence from the allusive ethereality of Bjork and the epic orchestrations of Arcade Fire, with the aggressive delivery of punk and metal, Knaggs runs his cello through an array of effects and loop stations to compose his spine-tingling works. Recorded at Collector Studio in Winnipeg, MB and mastered at Sigur Ros’ home studio Sundlaugin by Birgir Jon Birgirsson, Rob’s latest EP, Foreshore, showcases a performance of cinematic soundtrack and shimmering post-rock, from the bittersweet lilts of Kallie, the rumbling abrasion of Ghosting, to the final haunting textures of A Natural Response.
Knaggs’ evocative performance is enhanced by a stunning visual display of Canada’s north, recounting his years spent living in the town of Churchill, Manitoba. Captured by Tomas Taylor and Elbert Bakker, the footage of Churchill’s otherworldly ecology provides a context to the vast landscapes and isolation reflected in Rob’s brooding live set that has charmed audiences across Australia and North America.