The Devin Townsend Project - By a Thread: Live in London 2011Recorded November 10-13, 2011
Released June 18, 2012
Dev had 2 end goals for the DTP:
1. Play all four albums live.
2. Release a box set compiling all four albums.
In November of 2011, he played a series of four concerts in London playing all four DTP albums. The first 3 shows were played at the University of London Union and the 4th was played at Union Chapel. Each night had a different lineup of musicians, with Dev and Dave Young being the only ones to play all four nights. These concerts were recorded and released as By a Thread - Live in London 2011.
Night 1 - KiNovember 10, 2011
1. A Monday (Live)
2. Coast (Live)
3. Disruptr (Live)
4. Gato (Live)
5. Terminal (Live)
6. Heaven’s End (Live)
7. Ain’t Never Gonna Win (Live)
8. Winter (Live)
9. Trainfire (Live)
10. Lady Helen (Live)
11. Ki (Live)
12. Quiet Riot (Live)
13. Demon League (Live)
Encore:
14. Coast (Take 2) [Live]
15. Synchronicity Freaks (Live)
16. Deep Peace (Live)Personnel:
Devin Townsend - Guitar, Vocals
Dave Young - Guitar, Keyboards
Brian Waddell - Bass (Disruptr, Heaven’s End, Synchronicity Freaks, Deep Peace)
Mike Young - Bass (Gato, Ki, Quiet Riot)
Jean Savoie - Bass (Coast, Terminal, Ain’t Never Gonna Win, Winter, Trainfire, Lady Helen)
Ryan Van Poederooyen - Drums (Disruptr, Heaven’s End, Synchronicity Freaks, Deep Peace)
Dirk Verbeuren - Drums (Gato, Trainfire, Ki)
Mike St. Jean - Drums (Coast, Terminal, Ain’t Never Gonna Win, Winter, Lady Helen)
Kat Epple - Flutes, Woodwinds (Terminal, Ain’t Never Gonna Win, Winter)
Full concert:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtmBTLy-tJI Slide show:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1izARIVGPE Night 1 featured a rotating cast of drummers and bassists from the next three nights. Ché Dorval and Duris Maxwell, who both played on the Ki album, are absent from this performance. The way Dev speaks about Duris Maxwell during the recording sessions for Ki makes it sound like it was just another gig for him, and he didn’t connect with the material. Dev likely asked him to play at this show, but it didn’t happen for whatever reason. Dev couldn’t afford to fly Ché out, but she only sings on two songs anyway. Dev sings her section of Trainfire. Kat Epple, the flautist from Ghost, plays on a few songs.
Dev started singing too early on Coast, and decided to redo the song as the first encore, intending to swap out the original take for the redo for the eventual live album. However, he ended up leaving in the original take. I don’t know if the redo of Coast took the place of another song meant for the encore. The other two encores were Synchronicity Freaks and Deep Peace.
Night 2 - AddictedNovember 11, 2011
1. Addicted (Live)
2. Universe in a Ball (Live)
3. Bend It Like Bender (Live)
4. Supercrush (Live)
5. Hyperdrive (Live)
6. Resolve! (Live)
7. Ih-Ah! (Live)
8. The Way Home (Live)
9. Numbered! (Live)
10. Awake!! (Live)
Encore:
11. Pixilate (Live)
12. Life (Live)
13. Kingdom (Live)Personnel:
Devin Townsend - Guitar, Vocals
Dave Young - Guitar
Mark Cimino - Guitar
Anneke Van Giersbergen - Vocals
Brian “Beav” Waddell - Bass
Ryan Van Poederooyen - Drums
Full concert unfortunately not on YouTube, but there’s a few songs available:
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_AGVF5YuSPLZdvLuiBBKRFsiof3jsfnZ Ih-Ah rehearsal:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_e8VeDWVN8 Night 2 featured the same lineup as the album, with the addition of Dave Young as a third guitarist. Anneke sings on Ih-Ah instead of Susanne Richter, who sang on the album. The encores were Pixillate, Life, and Kingdom. I thought Pixillate was a strange choice at first, as it doesn’t really fit the vibe of Addicted, but then I heard Anneke sing it and realized it was a perfect choice. If you actually read these writeups all the way through, reply with your favorite Batman actor.
Night 3 - DeconstructionNovember 12, 2011
1. Praise the Lowered (Live)
2. Stand (Live)
3. Juular (Live)
4. Planet of the Apes (Live)
5. Sumeria (Live)
6. The Mighty Masturbator (Live)
7. Pandemic (Live)
8. Deconstruction (Live)
9. Poltergeist (Live)
Encore:
10. Fake Punk (Live)
11. Wallet Chain (Live)
12. Metal Dilemma (Live)Personnel:
Devin Townsend - Guitar, Vocals
Dave Young - Guitar
Mike Young - Bass
Dirk Verbeuren - Drums
April Jayne Amos, Caroline Campbell, Josh Bevan, Luke Holmes - Choir
Rehearsal:
https://youtu.be/jfgaAZBkDJU Full concert:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkNvkD6E08E Soundcheck:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2L2Xam3rg0o&t=276s Slide show:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wVkWQmT4fk Night 3 has Dirk Verbeuren on drums, and brothers Mike and Dave Young on bass and guitar respectively. The band is joined by a four piece choir. None of the guest vocalists from the album are present for this recording. Dev sings some of them, and the rest are played via backing tracks. During the show, Ziltoid announced that he was running for President of the Universe. Ziltoid is the greatest guitar player who ever lived, but he was disqualified from the race due to the fact that he is a nerd.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFryjdvZaRI The encore featured the triumphant and/or dreaded return of Punky Bruster. A rocky performance of 3 songs, but a fun way to end the night.
Night 4 - GhostNovember 13, 2011
1. Fly (Live)
2. Heart Baby (Live)
3. Saloon (Live)
4. Feather (Live)
5. Kawaii (Live)
6. Ghost (Live)
7. Blackberry (Live)
8. Monsoon (Live)
9. Texada (Live)
10. Seams (Live)
11. Infinite Ocean (Live)
12. As You Were (Live)
Encore:
13. Fall (Live)
14. Radial Highway (Live)
15. Watch You (Live)Personnel:
Devin Townsend - Guitar, Vocals
Dave Young - Keyboards, Mandolin
Chrys Johnson - Guitar
Jean Savoie - Bass
Mike St. Jean - Drums
Kat Epple - Flutes, Woodwinds, Vocals
Rehearsal:
https://youtu.be/NEp9gwNQ7YA Full concert:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VeXdly7KL_E&t=64s Slide show:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zE-aHG12rIc Show day(Behind the scenes footage):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pFFVzvy5Ew The 4th and final night features the main lineup from the Ghost album; Dev, Dave, Mike, and Kat. But with the addition of Jean Savoie on bass and Chrys Johnson as a second guitarist. Kat Epple also sings the female vocals instead of Kat Natale. Unlike the other shows, this one was recorded at Union Chapel, which I think is a much more fitting venue for this album. Saloon, a song meant for Ghost 2, was played between Heart Baby and Feather. The encore is 3 more songs meant for Ghost 2.
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By a Thread was released June 18, 2012, as a 5 CD / 4 DVD box set limited to 5,000 copies. CDs 1-4 contain the main sets of each night, and CD 5 combines all of the encores from the shows on one disc. Demon League, from Night 1, is included on the encore disc instead of the main disc for that show.
The 4 DVDs contain the full sets, including the encores, as well as some bonus features:
- Audio commentary by Dev for each night.
- A music video for a song from each album: Coast, Bend It Like Bender, Juular, and Kawaii
- A slide show with photos from each night
- Behind the scenes videos
- An interview with Dev
This box set is hard to find nowadays, though it does pop up occasionally on eBay or Discogs. Good luck finding one for under $300.
55 songs over 4 nights (56 counting the redo of Coast). That is no small feat. By a Thread isn’t a perfect performance, and the title reflects that. The band is hanging on “By a Thread”. Any one of these shows could have gone off the rails at any time. But what we get is a pretty stellar performance across the board. This would be the only time a lot of these songs were played live.