With the event seemingly selling out over a month in advance, this ATP (All Tomorrow’s Parties) curated event saw Canadian duo Purity Ring blast out their ethereal electro blaze for the first and only scheduled time in the UK for 2013.
It’s the sort of gig where every eager tweet comes with a directly related Instagram post attached to it. Purity Ring looked the part in St. John’s Church in one the hippest conglomerates in London – Hackney. The stage littered with flickering candles and cocoon-like lamps hanging from long branch-like rods towering above which pulsate in multi-coloured fashion. The somewhat cold venue seemed apt for a mysterious and haunting band.
Purity Ring are Megan James, who comes across as an even more bizarre and gothier Florence Welch with her flowing black robes and swirling hair, and Corin Roddick, who wields flourishing drumsticks and controls the ‘beat desk’. The pair blast out icy-cool electronic debut album ‘Shrines’ in its entirety which boasts ghostly lyrics and part looming bass. The show is mainly dominated by Corin’s impressive drum pad-come-lighting display with eight hittable nests like domes which glow as they’re struck. Through opener ‘Amenamy’ and then ‘Crawlersout’, the synthesised tremors and conspicuous heavy beats vibrate up through the church’s floor and pews and really makes you shake. However, while the acoustics can be lovely in the church, Purity Ring’s already reverberating and echoing sound becomes swampy and the vocals are often lost and incomprehensible.
‘Belispeak’, ‘Saltkin’ and ‘Lofticries’ boast the stage show with varying intensity of lighting and a mini laser presence directing around the upper seating area. Without much stage small-talk, only the simple ‘thanks’ towards the end of the set, the show seems over rehearsed and very samey. The filler between songs is unpredictable, which gives some excitement, but only at certain points does Corin amaze you – this supports the thoughts from the tired crowd that the set lacked some snap, or some edge. ‘Cartographist’ and ‘Grandloves’ brings Megan to further mystify the situation by waving a candle lit torch in a spiritual fashion and at certain bass ‘drops’ she pounds a huge drum which lights when hit. The drum itself lights the crowd and amplifies the intensity of the bass driven songs.
With a lengthy wait for a return to the UK, it was disappointing to see that the duo have brought no new songs with them as they run through favourite cover ‘Grammy’ (originally performed by Soulja Boy and Ester Dean). This brings the cleanest moment of the night, with a high class performance from Megan on the vocal front as she takes lead and shows intimate stage presence. Three songs stand out, clear or distinct. ‘Obedear’, thanks to it’s trivial, high, catchy melody and weirdly looped vocals, steps up, while ‘Ungirthed’ matches rapid-fire lyrics with wagering delivery and more distinctive beats. The voice of “Ears ring and teeth click and ears ring and teeth click” rings throughout the large venue which reaches every small and unknown crevasse.
‘Fineshrine’ is their last and best song, with no need for faffing about with an encore (respectable decision). The now sounding mixture of echoing percussion, swelling synths, melody and lyrics of creepy intimacy brings enticement and ends the show with a moment of a unfortunately rare envelopment.
Thoroughly enjoying myself and although with some criticism, the show was worth the wait. The mixture of the originality in the lighting and the show with the boasting bass, intricate percussive torrents and catchy melodies props the performance, despite their only really being a few impacting highlights.
Although now off my ‘to see’ list, I do hope to revisit Purity Ring’s live show and see if they can perform to their full potential (and to what their album deserves).
Purity Ring played:
Amenamy
Crawlersout
Belispeak
Saltkin
Lofticries
Cartographist
Grandloves
Obedear
Grammy
Ungirthed
Shuck
Fineshrine
It’s the sort of gig where every eager tweet comes with a directly related Instagram post attached to it. Purity Ring looked the part in St. John’s Church in one the hippest conglomerates in London – Hackney. The stage littered with flickering candles and cocoon-like lamps hanging from long branch-like rods towering above which pulsate in multi-coloured fashion. The somewhat cold venue seemed apt for a mysterious and haunting band.
Purity Ring are Megan James, who comes across as an even more bizarre and gothier Florence Welch with her flowing black robes and swirling hair, and Corin Roddick, who wields flourishing drumsticks and controls the ‘beat desk’. The pair blast out icy-cool electronic debut album ‘Shrines’ in its entirety which boasts ghostly lyrics and part looming bass. The show is mainly dominated by Corin’s impressive drum pad-come-lighting display with eight hittable nests like domes which glow as they’re struck. Through opener ‘Amenamy’ and then ‘Crawlersout’, the synthesised tremors and conspicuous heavy beats vibrate up through the church’s floor and pews and really makes you shake. However, while the acoustics can be lovely in the church, Purity Ring’s already reverberating and echoing sound becomes swampy and the vocals are often lost and incomprehensible.
‘Belispeak’, ‘Saltkin’ and ‘Lofticries’ boast the stage show with varying intensity of lighting and a mini laser presence directing around the upper seating area. Without much stage small-talk, only the simple ‘thanks’ towards the end of the set, the show seems over rehearsed and very samey. The filler between songs is unpredictable, which gives some excitement, but only at certain points does Corin amaze you – this supports the thoughts from the tired crowd that the set lacked some snap, or some edge. ‘Cartographist’ and ‘Grandloves’ brings Megan to further mystify the situation by waving a candle lit torch in a spiritual fashion and at certain bass ‘drops’ she pounds a huge drum which lights when hit. The drum itself lights the crowd and amplifies the intensity of the bass driven songs.
With a lengthy wait for a return to the UK, it was disappointing to see that the duo have brought no new songs with them as they run through favourite cover ‘Grammy’ (originally performed by Soulja Boy and Ester Dean). This brings the cleanest moment of the night, with a high class performance from Megan on the vocal front as she takes lead and shows intimate stage presence. Three songs stand out, clear or distinct. ‘Obedear’, thanks to it’s trivial, high, catchy melody and weirdly looped vocals, steps up, while ‘Ungirthed’ matches rapid-fire lyrics with wagering delivery and more distinctive beats. The voice of “Ears ring and teeth click and ears ring and teeth click” rings throughout the large venue which reaches every small and unknown crevasse.
‘Fineshrine’ is their last and best song, with no need for faffing about with an encore (respectable decision). The now sounding mixture of echoing percussion, swelling synths, melody and lyrics of creepy intimacy brings enticement and ends the show with a moment of a unfortunately rare envelopment.
Thoroughly enjoying myself and although with some criticism, the show was worth the wait. The mixture of the originality in the lighting and the show with the boasting bass, intricate percussive torrents and catchy melodies props the performance, despite their only really being a few impacting highlights.
Although now off my ‘to see’ list, I do hope to revisit Purity Ring’s live show and see if they can perform to their full potential (and to what their album deserves).
Purity Ring played:
Amenamy
Crawlersout
Belispeak
Saltkin
Lofticries
Cartographist
Grandloves
Obedear
Grammy
Ungirthed
Shuck
Fineshrine
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