Alcest & Mono played Royale – 2/19

A globe-trotting, genre-spanning bill including openers Kælan Mikla took over Boston’s Royale last week.

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It was a big night for connoisseurs of majestic heavy music this past Wesnesday, as French blackgazers Alcest and Japanese post-rock veterans Mono swept into town for the first show of their much-anticipated North American tour. Both bands were back in action with acclaimed LPs in 2024, and both were coming off a pretty long while between Boston appearances – six and seven years, respectively. Fans packed the Royale floor to welcome them back with open arms.

Mono’s brand of post-rock is practically a textbook example of the genre: lush, emotive instrumentals that cascade towards stirring, earth-rattling crescendos. They may not reinvent the wheel, but their refinement of the craft remains plenty compelling more than two decades into their career. Wednesday’s set focused mainly on last year’s Oath, while also dipping back to an evident fan-favorite from 2009’s Hymn to the Immortal Wind. Free of frills, the four-piece nonetheless put on an immersive and transfixing show.

As for Alcest, the French group led by singer/guitarist Neige packed the stage with a few more bells and whistles (in the form of towering bird sculptures, presumably migrated from the cover of their newest record Les chants de l’aurore), but struck a similarly reserved presence that let the songs do the talking. Alcest’s pastoral blend of shoegaze, post-metal and black metal fury refracted towards the light really sings on stage, and the band offered up a generous 90-plus-minute set to make up for lost time since their last North American run.

Openers Kælan Mikla, hailing from Reykjavík, also seemed to have plenty of fans in the house. The trio’s darkwave-y post-punk, anchored by the dynamic presence of vocalist Laufey Soffía, was an icy delight.

Scroll for photos from the whole evening below.