Who are Angine de Poitrine? Inside the viral masked band and how to get 2026 tour tickets

Nothing about Angine de Poitrine looks like a normal rock show at first glance. One musician is barefoot, both are hidden inside giant papier-mâché heads, and the instrument at the center of the stage is built for notes that a standard guitar cannot reach.

Angine de Poitrine is a Quebec duo that turned a 27-minute KEXP performance into one of 2026’s most unlikely viral music stories. The masks may be what make people stop scrolling, but the band’s dizzying riffs and infectious rhythms are why millions have kept watching.

Everything to know about Angine de Poitrine

From their anonymous stage characters and unusual instruments to their viral KEXP performance and rapidly expanding tour, Angine de Poitrine have become one of experimental rock’s most fascinating new acts. Here is what to know about the duo’s origins, masks, microtonal sound, albums, live shows and 2026 tour.

Who are Angine de Poitrine?

Angine de Poitrine is an instrumental experimental rock duo from Saguenay, Quebec. The musicians perform as Khn de Poitrine, who plays microtonal guitar, bass and loops, and Klek de Poitrine, who handles drums and percussion. They communicate through costumes, physical gestures and occasional distorted vocal sounds rather than conventional singing or stage banter.

The pair are longtime musical collaborators who first met as teenagers and spent years playing together in different projects. Angine de Poitrine began in 2019 as a strange side project before eventually overtaking their previous band. Their debut record, “Vol. 1,” arrived in 2024.

The band remains an anonymous art project. Khn and Klek make most public appearances in costume and the official Angine de Poitrine website asks fans not to speculate about the performers’ identities. The mystery is not a puzzle that needs to be solved, but rather part of the experience.

How did Angine de Poitrine start?

The masks were originally created to solve a local problem.

Khn and Klek’s previous band had already played a venue in Saguenay when another opening became available only days later. In a small music scene, they worried that audiences would not return to see the same musicians twice in such a short period. They already had an experimental microtonal side project, so they decided to disguise themselves as a completely different group.

The musicians made enormous heads from papier-mâché, covered their costumes in black-and-white polka dots and performed under the name Angine de Poitrine. What began as an elaborate joke proved more exciting than expected. Their earlier band ended in 2022 as Khn and Klek increasingly focused on the masked project.

That accidental beginning explains why the group feels different from an anonymous band built through a polished marketing campaign. The costumes, instruments and music all came from the same do-it-yourself impulse: make something strange, commit completely and figure out what it means later.

Why is Angine de Poitrine famous?

Angine de Poitrine’s breakthrough came through a Live on KEXP session recorded at the Trans Musicales festival in Rennes, France, on December 4, 2025. KEXP published a video of the performance on February 5, 2026. The four-song set included “Sarniezz,” “Mata Zyklek,” “Fabienk” and “Sherpa.”

The video had everything required to interrupt an endless social-media scroll. Khn stood barefoot beneath a huge angular mask, switching between the guitar and bass necks of a homemade-looking instrument while operating an elaborate pedalboard. Klek sat behind a matching drum kit, navigating sudden rhythmic changes without appearing to strain. Every inch of the frame was covered in polka dots.

The performance took off because it was impossible to ignore: the masks pulled people in, the music gave them a reason to keep listening and the playing barely looked possible. Within months, the complete KEXP video had attracted millions of views.

The duo’s reach continued growing beyond that first video. Angine de Poitrine performed “Fabienk” on “Later… With Jools Holland” in June 2026, bringing its unique visual world to a wider television audience.

Why does Angine de Poitrine wear masks?

Khn and Klek originally needed the masks to hide the fact that they had recently performed at the same venue as members of another band. The disguises soon became inseparable from the music.

The oversized heads have long noses, angular shapes and deliberately imperfect surfaces. They are paired with full-body polka-dot costumes, decorated instruments and stage equipment covered in the same pattern. Even as the band’s audience has grown, the duo has tried to preserve the handmade, lived-in appearance of the original designs.

The masks also change how the musicians behave onstage. Instead of presenting two identifiable people playing difficult music, the costumes create two exaggerated characters. Small head movements become comic gestures and a drummer sitting motionless can appear just as theatrical as a traditional frontperson running across an arena stage.

Performing inside the masks makes the music considerably harder. Khn must move between two instrument necks, operate several pedals with bare feet and see the stage through a restricted opening, whereas Klek must maintain control of shifting rhythms while wearing a large headpiece that moves with every drum stroke.

What does Angine de Poitrine mean?

“Angine de poitrine” is a French term for angina, a type of chest pain. The medical term also feels appropriate for music built around rhythmic tension, dissonance and grooves that seem to tighten before finally releasing.

A rough English phonetic pronunciation is "ahn-ZHEEN duh pwah-TREEN." The band name is intentionally dramatic, but it also reflects Khn and Klek’s larger sense of humor. Their mythology treats the performers as space-time travelers fascinated by earthly subjects including rock music, hot dogs and pyramids.

What does Angine de Poitrine sound like?

Angine de Poitrine is most commonly described as experimental rock or math rock, but neither label fully captures the sound. The duo draws from progressive rock, funk, jazz, punk, psychedelia, minimalism and electronic dance music.

The band has coined an even less convenient description for itself: “Dada Pythago-Cubist Mantra-Rock.”

The “microtonal” part of the music comes from Khn’s custom double-neck guitar and bass. Most Western guitars divide an octave into 12 notes. Khn’s instrument has additional frets that allow him to play quarter tones, pitches that sit between the notes available on a conventional guitar. Those in-between sounds create friction, instability and the slightly alien quality that immediately distinguishes Angine de Poitrine from a standard progressive rock band.

Khn uses a loop pedal to record guitar and bass phrases during the performance. Instead of playing over prerecorded backing tracks, he constructs the arrangement one part at a time, adding a bass line, guitar figure or rhythmic accent before removing or replacing it later.

Klek’s drumming gives that process its direction. He can reinforce the apparent rhythm, move the emphasis to a different beat or wait in silence while the loops continue to build. The official band biography compares the structure to techno, with motifs gradually added and subtracted until the entire piece has transformed.

The result is complicated music that still moves. Listeners do not need to count the time signature or understand quarter-tone tuning to feel the moment when a riff locks into place.

Fans of King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard, Frank Zappa, Gentle Giant, King Crimson, Lightning Bolt or the more adventurous side of Miles Davis may recognize pieces of the approach, though Angine de Poitrine does not sound exactly like any of them.

What is Angine de Poitrine’s latest album?

Angine de Poitrine released its second record, “Vol. II,” on April 3, 2026. The six-track release expands the looping and microtonal ideas introduced on “Vol. 1,” but the grooves feel more direct, the transitions are sharper and the interaction between guitar and drums is even more central.

“Fabienk” has become the band’s clearest signature song. It begins with a deliberately disorienting guitar figure, develops through layers of bass and additional guitar and repeatedly shifts how the listener perceives the rhythm.

“Sarniezz” offers a more immediate groove while “Mata Zyklek” highlights the precision required for Khn and Klek to move through the same rhythmic structure together. All three songs were featured in the viral KEXP session.

The complete “Vol. II” tracklist is:

The band’s debut, “Vol. 1,” was released June 14, 2024. Its six songs established the formula that would later reach millions of viewers: long instrumental builds, microtonal tension, hypnotic repetition and rhythms that remain physical even when they become difficult to count.

Best Angine de Poitrine songs for new listeners

Angine de Poitrine’s catalog is still compact enough to explore in one sitting. These six songs offer the quickest introduction to the duo’s sound, development and live appeal.

If you only sample one Angine de Poitrine performance, start with the KEXP video. It lets you watch the songs being assembled rather than simply hearing the finished versions on record.

What is an Angine de Poitrine concert like?

An Angine de Poitrine concert sits somewhere between an experimental rock show, a dance performance, a technical demonstration and surrealist theater.

Khn builds guitar and bass arrangements in real time while Klek guides the music through sudden rhythmic turns. The two rarely communicate with traditional stage banter. Distorted noises, hand movements, synchronized gestures and the characters’ oversized faces do most of the talking.

The crowd response is generally less restrained than the words “instrumental microtonal math rock” might suggest. The repetition gives the music the forward motion of electronic dance music while the volume and drumming can produce the energy of a punk show. The musicians may be performing complex material, but the audience is not expected to stand silently and study it.

The masks, costumes and instruments are also the production. Fans should not expect the performance to rely on giant screens, elaborate scenery or arena-style effects. The visual appeal comes from watching two unusual figures execute extremely difficult music while remaining fully inside their bizarre stage world.

Where is Angine de Poitrine touring in 2026?

Angine de Poitrine’s first announced U.S. run focused on smaller West Coast and East Coast venues before demand led to an expanded North American leg. New shows were added in Denver, Brooklyn, Boston, Toronto, Chicago, Los Angeles and other major markets.

The band’s expanded late-2026 headline schedule includes:

Angine de Poitrine is also appearing at festivals and special events including Iron Blossom Music Festival in Richmond, VA (September 19). Visit Angine de Poitrine's page and click the heart icon to track all upcoming performances.

How to get Angine de Poitrine tickets on SeatGeek

Angine de Poitrine’s rapid rise means the size and layout of its venues can vary significantly from one city to the next. Some shows use general admission while larger theaters may offer multiple seating levels.

Here is how to find tickets on SeatGeek:

1. Search for Angine de Poitrine on SeatGeek and choose the concert or festival you want to attend.

2. Review the event details, including the venue, age policy, ticket type and whether the show uses general admission or reserved seating.

3. Compare available listings with filters for price, ticket quantity, section and Deal Score.

4. Use the interactive venue map and available seat views when the event offers reserved seating.

5. Complete checkout and follow the delivery instructions provided with the order. Tickets purchased through SeatGeek are covered by the Buyer Guarantee.

Angine de Poitrine became famous because the giant noses made people look. The band has continued growing because underneath the paper and polka dots are two musicians capable of turning complicated ideas into something genuinely fun.