Purity Ring
April 2
Ritual Nightclub
The Montreal electro-pop band Purity Ring brought two openers along during its April 2 concert — spaceandtime and Blue Hawaii, both of which share a similar style.
The night kicked off with spaceandtime. There is very little information available about the duo, who craft low-key electronic songs. The band’s style was reminiscent of John Maus, although with considerably less energy. Their set was about a half hour long, and unfortunately most of the crowd paid them little attention.
Montreal duo Blue Hawaii followed. Singer Raphaelle “Raph” Standell-Presto appeared cutely shy at first, asking the crowd if they want a quiet set or if they want to dance. A dance set was the resounding answer. Any trace of timidity was immediately shed as Blue Hawaii played a set of strongly beat-based dance songs. Standell-Presto’s distinct, high vocal style soared above Alex “Agor” Cowan’s production, which was dynamically louder than on any of their releases. This high-energy set was very different from what I had expected from Blue Hawaii. It was a pleasant surprise.
After Blue Hawaii, the anticipation for Purity Ring was incredibly high. After the band’s equipment was placed on stage, smoke filled the air. Megan James, the group’s singer, became visible as the beat to their first song kicked in. As Corin Roddick, the band’s producer became visible, so did a number of glowing paper lanterns around him. As the fog dispersed, it became clear that Roddick was actually striking the lanterns, to make them glow and emit a bell-like chiming. The ethereal glowing lanterns and smoke all made for a fitting visual atmosphere for the group’s dark soundscapes.
Purity Ring was an immediate crowd-pleaser. The band played around 10 songs, including some obvious crowd favourites such as “Fineshrine” and “Belispeak,” and my personal favourite, “Lofticries.” While playing these crowd-pleasing songs, Purity Ring was clearly in their element. The crowd’s energy was mirrored by James hopping around the stage and beating an oversized drum, with Roddick nodding along behind his equipment.
One of the night’s highlights was the band’s cover of Soulja Boy’s song “Grammy.” The band released a recording of this cover on their website earlier this year, and I found the song fairly lacklustre. Live however, the song was engaging and actually emotional, with James singing the line “Am I not good enough” like a question to the audience. Although it is not a direction I would like to see the band go in in the future, seeing them play a more pop-leaning song was interesting.
The band kept their sound fairly loyal to their album Shrines throughout the concert, and the band definitely delivered exactly what I had expected. Roddick mixed the songs slightly differently, adding drum beats or building the song in a more dramatic way than on the recording. This is always good to hear in a live performance.
Overall, it was a really fun night, and it was great to see how each act built on the energy of the audience. Ritual was completely packed, and the audience was very energetic and engaged in the performance, and almost everybody was dancing. I would definitely recommend seeing Purity Ring as their tour continues, and felt as though I got more than my money’s worth.
