This piece represents half of a co-byline of Exclaim! Magazine’s Class of 2026 Night 5, featuring Monstrosa, Wiener Kebab, Connie and Dear Evangeline. This article will be amended with the second half of the co-byline in near future.

To see Ronan Mitchell’s photos of the whole lineup, view our photo gallery here!

POV: It’s -22 degrees out, and Nora and I are braving the snow squalls in our painfully non-absorbent Doc Martens to catch tonight’s Class of 2026 show at The Rivoli. With frostbitten fingers, we decree that no polar vortex will keep us from tonight’s lineup: Monstrosa, WIENER KEBAB, CONNIE, and Dear Evangeline. Having endured the most horrific weather conditions known to man, we now present you with “Nora and Emma’s Comprehensive First-Person Account of Jan. 23 at The Rivoli.”

Toronto’s very own Monstrosa opened the show with a set that left me in a cold sweat. I mean, how do you begin to describe a performance that features multicolor graduation caps, crocheted luchador masks, a burlesque show, and a drummer in ambiguous reptilian headgear? You say, “Woah, this is fucking sick.” Monstrosa doesn’t pull any punches, which is ironic given their on-stage allusions to pro wrestling. Clad in silver pants and fishnet stockings, Monstrosa is L7 meets Morticia Addams. They couple melodic, winding vocals with grungy riffs that leave you unsure whether to headbang or break into song. Their 2023 album, Mild Fantasy Violence, straddles genres by incorporating heavy metal drums on tracks like “I Like Girls Like You,” only to pivot to a math rock rhythm on “Make My Move.” 

As the band kicked off with their recent single, “778,” I was stunned by the level of craftsmanship before me. Monstrosa’s commitment to costume design, choreography, and propwork made for a performance that looks as good as it sounds. Great instrumentation is one thing, but knowing how to work an audience is another. While Monstrosa is no stranger to shrieking guitars and vocal acrobatics, it’s their theatrics and unapologetic campiness that set them apart. What other band can break into a striptease and a leather-daddy interpretative dance within the span of 30 minutes? Keep in mind that most of the band members were orchestrating this whole thing while fully masked. As much as it pained me to tear my eyes from the stage, I opened my notes app to jot down, “It’s like if theatre kids were actually cool.”

Nora and I also had the pleasure of chatting with Dear Evangeline before their set. Dear Evangeline are the coolest girls you know because they don’t give a shit about being cool. They’re just fucking cool. Hailing from Brampton (Flower City, if you’re chill like that), Dear Evangeline have become a mainstay in the Southern Ontario hardcore scene. Whether you’ve followed them since their 2024 EP or are just tuning in, it’s easy to see why the five-piece is the talk of the Golden Horseshoe. From their 2023 singles, “Saint Complex” and “BITCH,” to their recent EP, The Other Side, Dear Evangeline are catharsis manifest. With lyrics like, “Talking in circles/I wanna throw you across the room,” Dear Evangeline makes music for every girl who’s ever felt too weird, too loud, too angry, or all of the above. 

Before we even set down our $12.50 Stella Artois, we were all talking over each other. We did our obligatory intros, but it never really felt like a traditional interview. Our conversation was replete with references to lesbian Calico Critters, Greek mythology, 6-7, ballet, Björk, and swan brawling (thematically relevant). Having recently released their EP The Other Side, the girls were eager to share their Top Secret™ EP production process. The Other Side, which was produced by Robert Ortiz of DEAR-GOD, was made possible by the following: access to V’s garage (shoutout Scab), Mikhail Fokine’s The Dying Swan, the myth of Leda and the Swan, and swan fights on YouTube. The end result is something that, in the words of bassist Xingyu, should ideally be listened to while in either a swamp or a state of deep mental turmoil. Although we were neither in a swamp nor in a state of mental turmoil, Nora and I were lucky enough to catch a few of the band’s new songs in their performance. To say that Dear Evangeline has a killer stage presence would be an understatement. I think I found God at the periphery of the pit. Keke, the band’s frontwoman, delivered a vocal performance that was nothing short of arresting. As one of the band’s founding members, she’s been mastering the art of screaming (and it is an art) since she was 16. The girls’ unmatched energy stems from the fact that they’re playing for each other more than they’re playing for us. From Prim and Robyn’s back-and-forth on bass and guitar to Keke and Xingyu’s ruthless vocals, Dear Evangeline’s set is a messianic jam session. Not to mention that Olivia’s momentum on drums is enough to make Janet Weiss quake in her boots. 

As I watched fellow Demo contributor Kate Howden jump into the pit, I thought back to Dear Evangeline’s self-described ethos: beautiful, gay women screaming. This checks out. I mean, they bark expletives and tie ribbons to the necks of their guitars. They’re equal parts Tchaikovsky and animal kingdom—both operatic and erratic. They’re the musical equivalent of a swan brawl because they’re “violent, yet beautiful,” and therein lies their appeal.