The legendary Lydia Lunch is making her  way back to Toronto, and is a must-see for any punk rocker, feminist, no-wave music fan. This lady gets in your face with honesty. She tells it like it is, no holds barred.

In November 2012, Lydia Lunch toured select cities across North America with a monstrous unit dubbed RETROVIRUS, featuring guitarist Weasel Walter (The Flying Luttenbachers, etc.), bassist Algis Kizys (Swans, Foetus) and drummer Bob Bert (Sonic Youth, Pussy Galore, Chrome Cranks). The set consisted of a quasi-chronological display of musical raw power, ranging from material by Lydia’s classic units Teenage Jesus and the Jerks, 13.13, 8-Eyed Spy and Shotgun Wedding, as well as touching on her solo debut “Queen of Siam” (ZE Records, 1980) and various other projects up to the present.

Lydia Lunch has spent decades trolling through the sub/terranean sick-home black & blues creating a schizophrenic musical legacy which loops from shrill No Wave to bludgeoning Hard Rock, from smoky Jazz Noir and illustrated word to macabre Psychedelia. 

Weasel Walter is best known as the founder of the cult punk jazz/no wave/brutal prog band, The Flying Luttenbachers. Mr. Walter has also worked with other experimental rock groups like XBXRX, Behold The Arctopus, Burmese and Lake Of Dracula. As an improviser, Mr. Walter has performed with Evan Parker, Marshall Allen, Elliott Sharp, Peter Evans, Henry Kaiser, Mary Halvorson, Nels Cline, Jim O’Rourke and Vinny Golia. 

Bob Bert has pounded the skins for Sonic Youth, Pussy Galore, Chrome Cranks, Knoxville Girls, fronted his own group Bewitched and has provided a unique rocking voodoo backbeat on over 30 albums. A stint in print making at Warhol’s Factory helped inspire him to create the highly lauded music, art and literary magazine BB GUN. 

Tim Dahl is a composer and professional electric and double bass player, vocalist, keyboardist and composer living in New York City. He is best known as the front man and bass player of the noise-rock band Child Abuse and the defunct avant-jazz group The Hub. He also writes and performs for the jazz ensemble Pulverize The Sound. Dahl has toured extensively throughout North America, Europe and Japan, and performed with many notable musicians, composers and performers including Yusef Lateef, Archie Shepp, Eugene Chadbourne, John Zorn, Marc Ribot, Elliot Sharpe, Tatsuya Yoshida and Stanley Jordan.

RETROVIRUS is now on tour again, with a stop in Toronto on July 18th at the Bovine, along with local supporting acts, Square Nails and Sista Fista. DJ Betti Forde keeps the music going between sets.

9pm doors, 10pm show 19+
$12.50 adv , $15 @ doors

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About the Author

Bryen Dunn is a freelance journalist with a focus on travel, lifestyle, entertainment, and hospitality. He has an extensive portfolio of celebrity interviews with musicians, actors, and other public personalities. He enjoys discovering delicious eats, tasting spirited treats, and being mesmerized by musical beats. Reach out - bryen@thebuzzmag.ca