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CONCERT REVIEW: Purity Ring @ First Unitarian Church 9/20
In an era where success can be counted by Youtube hits, Purity Ring has reached millions and been forced to get it together, get touring and get ready to have hoards of fans trying to get a moment with them at the merch table.
CONCERT REVIEW: Purity Ring @ First Unitarian Church 9/20
Nothing like a sing-songy, heart-string-tugging hit with disturbing imagery —”cut open my sternum and pull my little ribs around you” — to get everyone humming as they shuffle out of the venue.
The melody puts in perspective the passion and romance of those lines, so, if you haven’t yet, I guess you would have to hear it. Purity Ring’s Fireshrine is an ear worm you won’t want to get rid of.
Really, its bass-booming, hip hop-inspired beats guide a chorus of enchanting vocals. The duo swooned the audience with an entirely organic encapsulation of all that these two Alberta, Canada natives have created and ready-or-not gone viral with in the past year or so. Other than a few barely-notable glitches, their set was as seamless and electronically charged as the recordings.
Corin Roddick manipulates the sound boards while singer Megan James saunters back and forth across the stage, charming the dance out of the crowd. She and Roddick are both armed with drum sticks, for virtual purposes only. They work as wands commanding the light display that they’ve carefully constructed — a series of color-changing paper cocoons dangling down over the stage and a ring of paper bulbs surrounding Roddick, which work as drum pads/touch lamps.
James is quite comely with a sort of home-town girl appeal — endearing curls springing from her pony and draping around her slightly nervous-looking expression. Nervous, in a sense, it seems, that can be attributed to the band’s unintentional rush to stardom. James looks a bit overwhelmed at times, mostly when the music stops. But when she’s in the song, there’s no denying she’s in heaven and everyone in the crowd is buzzing that she sings like an angel.
When asked how the show went, “It was hot,” was her response, “Good, and hot.” The church basement is a notoriously sweltering box reeking of beer and bodies, but it only added to the power of the performance.
In an era where success can be counted by Youtube hits, Purity Ring has reached millions and been forced to get it together, get touring and get ready to have hoards of fans trying to get a moment with them at the merch table. Seeing these kinds of over-night successful bands can obviously go one of two ways, and these guys killed it on first impressions. If they can pack the church on a Thursday night and bid good night to a room of satisfied faces, bets are on that they’ll be back and on to bigger venues soon.
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