One Hell of a Kickoff to Winterlude

Photos by Owen Maxwell

Despite relentless cold and ice sculptures in virtually every direction, it was hard to feel cold Friday as Coleman Hell brought the heat to Winterlude's opening ceremonies at Confederation Park.

Hell ran out to start the show dancing up and down the stage, pushing his party beats as he hopped along to his band. His energy never ceased as he proceeded to keep moving for his entire set, never sticking in one spot for more than a moment. Although one might argue Hell was just trying to keep warm, it came off as a stellar display of just how good a performer he is.

Coleman's relentless live energy even resulted in his fur coat spending half the show on the floor as his dance moves continued to keep him and the crowd warm, through tracks like "Devotion," "Fireproof" and "Take Me Up."

The show got intimate when Hell walked over to the side stage to give an engaging show to the left side of the crowd while his keyboardist played along on a keyboard Hell jokingly claimed was "made of ice."

Coleman even took the keys himself playing next to his synth player and even donning his fuzzy keytar and running around the stage with it. 

With smoke machines and new headwear on Coleman finished the set in a blaze of glory playing "2 Heads" while the crowd jumped higher than ever, with glow-sticks waving as Ottawa music fans could have forgotten for an hour that it was February.