By Kris Ketonen

Montreal’s Black Tiger Sex Machine is hoping for more big things when they return to Thunder Bay on January 30. The tiger-helmeted, heavy-electronic trio first brought their highly visual show to the city last fall, and it was a surprising success, according to member Marc-Andre Chagnon. “The people there were super-cool, really open-minded about the music, a lot of energy,” Chagnon says. “A lot of people had seen us at festivals. There was actually one guy who built a tiger helmet with pizza boxes, spray paint and duct tape.” That was something of a validation for the trio. They’ve been working hard to be accessible, friendly, and create “good vibes” with fans.

“People have been catching on to it really quickly,” Chagnon says. “When you go to a show and people spend hours preparing for the show and doing stuff like building their own helmet, it means the world.” The trio’s next stop in Thunder Bay promises to be another memorable one. “We don’t play a lot of known tracks, remixes, or a lot of vocal tracks,” he says. “It’s really a cross between rave music and a post-apocalyptic atmosphere, where it’s really us and the crowd interacting and just trying to build a vibe around the music.”

Aside from touring, the members of Black Tiger Sex Machine (Patrick Barry and Julien Maranda round out the trio) are putting the finishing touches on the their first full-length album (which may be released just before the Thunder Bay show—cross your fingers).

Black Tiger Sex Machine plays Crocks on January 30 with Apashe and Dabin. For more information, visit blacktigersexmachine.com.