NEWS
EVENTS
Purity Ring @ St John's Hackney
Indie | Wednesday 27th March 2013 | Becca
Have to mention the venue first. All Tomorrow's Parties, have always been known to provide live music in a different way, but this has to be the most unusual venue I have ever experienced live music in. St John’s church in Hackney, is a stunning building as it is. As soon as we walked inside, there was a buzz in the air, like everyone felt they were about to become part of something special. The whole place was candle lit, and hazy from smoke filling the air above us. So dreamy.
From now on I would like to see most bands in a venue such as this, because the acoustics and atmosphere were like nothing I’ve ever experienced. Usually, I would find a church creepy and of course the association with religion puts me off. So to see a band I adore in one, has brought out a new found love for the buildings in me. Why aren’t more of these buildings used for concerts I ask?! They’re perfect. I’d swap seeing an act in a sweaty theatre for a candlelit church hall any day.
The support for the evening came in the form of producer, Evian Christ. This guy sounded a lot better live than he did in the recordings I’d heard on his soundcloud. Like any producer of this genre at the moment, when he plays, he does not look up, he does not acknowledge the crowd, he is 100% engaged in what he is doing. His set reminded me of a heavier James Blake, adding in a flurry of hip-hop and R’n’B samples. He is the perfect example of someone who is doing something because they like to, not to be famous. We know this because of what he stated in a recent interview with Pitchfork.
As his online presence was pretty elusive until recently, he simply made the point that this was never intentional, and that he hasn’t really started looking into the other artist’s he’s been constantly compared to until now. It’s always refreshing to come across an artist who isn’t wrapped up in twitter, being like other artists of their genre, and the cliche of ‘getting their name out there’. With that in mind, I was looking forward to seeing him perform. He delivered an understated set, but it’ll be interesting to see what happens once he’s a little more famous.
After seeing Purity Ring live, two words come to mind - blown away. I was never in doubt that this was going to be a bad gig after all the glowing reviews these two receive, from their live shows.
Combined with this beautiful setting, and the absolutely stunning performance from the duo, this has been the best gig I have been to for a while. Track wise, every song from their debut ‘Shrines’ was played, and a cover of Soulja Boy’s ‘Grammy’. It was a short set, only about 40 minutes, but that is because the band only have one album of material to play, so naturally I look forward to seeing these again once they release another album. However, we enjoyed the performance so much that I would go and watch them again tomorrow.
The combination of heavy bass pounding through your chest and the awe-inducing light show, made for a very special spectacle. The band have stated in interviews before, that going to watch electronic music performed live can be boring, as it’s usually a producer standing behind decks, with a vocalist. So they indulge in making their shows as interesting, visually, as they physically can. In which, they have succeeded. It’s satisfying to see a band pull something like this off, when they put so much effort into making their shows for their audience. Some bands will turn up and play, then leave, almost selfishly. When watching Purity Ring, you know that this is more than that for them.
As they’ve put so much effort into making their shows different, it seems that they are so satisfied and truly own their sets now, delivering solid after solid performance. I feel honoured that I was able to experience them in such an intimate setting, and hopefully I’ll be lucky to experience that again.
Becca, @beccatogwell
