Show Review: Purity Ring, Blue Hawaii, the Crofoot Sat May 4th

Sometimes I really am clueless. I had wrongly assumed Purity Ring was my precious little gem of a band that was flying under everyone else's radar screen. Sure, I had heard "Lofticries" and "Fineshrine" played quite a bit on Sirius Alt Nation but what does that really add up to? I even went as far as to double check the website to confirm the show was really at Crofoot and not upstairs at the smaller Pike Room. So imagine my surprise when I walk up to Crofoot to find a line wrapped around the building and much more already inside. From the looks of the crowd it appears me and at least a few other hundred people in the area are well aware of Purity Ring.

As the crowd continued to fill in every crevice of the hall a mix of down and dirty hip hop permeated the room. I found a spot on the balcony to watch the opening act Blue Hawaii. Blue Hawaii is the other duo from Canada playing this night and in a word they were astounding. Forewarning the crowd they were going to start slow then go real hard, they executed their plan perfectly with an opener that was brilliantly still. Towards the middle of their set they dove into their dance material, deftly mixing Ra-'s vocals to deep synth and electronic beats. By the end of their set they had the crowd moving to some house beats and truly warmed up for Purity Ring.

Blue Hawaii

Before Purity Ring came on I managed to worm my way up to front of the crowd to get a better view. The enormous stage of the Crofoot was decorated with hanging balloons and Corin's syths were decorated with lights that lit up when struck.

Purity Ring

Besides the intermittently lit balloons the stage was mostly dark with vocalist Megan off to the side singing their beautifully crafted melodies. There wasn't a lot of talk between songs (actually none) but their performance thrilled the crowd as they continued to push forward to get a better view. After half their set was completed I faded back in the crowd to get try and get some air. The crowd was so dense I had problems getting to the back of the club. However, what Purity Ring managed to accomplish was creating an intimate atmosphere with the audience that was captivating for each and everyone present.

Megan of Purity Ring

This Post by Mikel O.D.