Hitting Los Angeles on the 2024 North American and European Tour promoting new album, Performance, Canadian queer artist Robert Alfons brings his electro-goth darkwave music project TR/ST (aka Trust) to The Novo on Friday, November 22nd. After first launching off in 2010 and releasing their iconic debut album TRST in 2012, TR/ST returns to dazzle us with both new music and old nostalgic favorites in a hazy, darklit downtown venue turned queer goth club for the night. Supported by post-punk, horror-film-influenced band Provoker, the stage was paved for a night of melancholic synthesizers and dark beats.
As someone who has been a fan of TR/ST since their 2012 album, TRST, hearing the signature opening synths and darker melodic textures that TR/ST is so known for was an incredible moment to experience. Having only heard of the music in the past without any accompanying visuals of the music project or of Robert himself, it was rewarding to see the person responsible for the musical creations enter stage and deliver those low, haunting vocals that have mystified me for over a decade. It was also satisfying to witness Robert’s endless amount of energy onstage and the level of authenticity he holds as an artist. As a queer person, it’s so refreshing and critical to have queer artists create spaces for us to feel most alive and full in our individual expressions. TR/ST delivers music that lets us be who we are in all our complexities, and Robert sails this feeling of genuinity home with his uniqueness and unconcern for status quo while he moves and pauses in ways that feel right for him.
The stage was dressed simply as emphasis was on the audience internalizing the music into their bodies with movement and dancing, and only one banner was held up on the backwall that resembled the 2024 album cover from Performance being the side of a warehouse building with the word, “FAG” accentuated at the top as a representation of power for queer people to reclaim the word. The stage was mostly dark besides a few white spotlight beams that shifted around as quickly and as frequently as Robert, with mixtures of strobes and every once in a while a few waterfalls of light cascading onto the crowd. Robert stayed mostly quiet between songs thanking the audience in small doses as to not take them too far out of their musical trances. The venue was packed with a mixture of people dancing the night away along with the more contemplative ones off on the sides just there to witness and intake the magic. Still, no one was entirely free from nodding and bobbing along to the contagious beats when the pulse hits.
It was fun to hear so many nostalgic sounds from the classic TRST album such as, “Candy Walls, “Shoom”, “Bulbform” and the highly beloved and closer for the night, “Sulk.”. It was also so fun to hear so many new songs from the new album too such as, “Regret,” “Dark Day,” “Performance” and “All At Once.” There were also songs from 2019 albums, The Destroyer-1 and The Destroyer-2 as well as tracks from the 2014 album Joyland.
The depth of bass, the crispiness of beats, haunting ethereal wisps matched to dancing synthesizers and Robert’s lamenting, melancholic vocals creates such a very specific musical landscape that very few artists are able to transport me to, and it was a treasure to finally be able to witness live after being a fan for many years. Something that has always magnetized me to TR/ST was the incredible symphony of emotions they are able to produce all at once (just like the name of one of their newest tracks). To have music that can meet you in a dark place, recognize sadness, pain, gloom and fear while simultaneously reminding you of lightness and hope, silliness and dazzle, joy and celebration is quite an exceptional gift that I would like to thank Robert Alfons, and everyone part of TR/ST, for dedicating themselves to.
I also appreciate the way Robert lets fans create and shape meaning of songs for themselves without giving too much of their input about what “it’s supposed to be about.” The point is to feel it and make it personal, and that is something I was able to do with TR/ST since 2012 when songs such as, “Candy Walls” instilled hope during a dark time, and songs such as, “Shoom” elicited feelings of magic and curiosity for the future. I’m happy to see TR/ST is still creating musical spaces, both internal and in concert venues, for people to come together with themselves and feel the whole interwoven tapestry of emotion that is inside of them without analyzing it, without judging it, but just to feel it, and to claim it.
With only one more stop, TR/ST wraps up the tour in San Diego on November 23rd. 2025 tour dates are yet to be announced, but make sure you catch this act when they come through because you will be uplifted and mesmerized.
GALLERY: TR/ST at The Novo in Los Angeles (November 22, 2024)
