Purity Ring Brings More Than A Concert To First Avenue

My anxiety was at an all-time high as I walked into First Avenue on Thursday night, and I hated it. There was really no reason for the anxiety. I was about to see a show that I knew very little about, and I was excited to see what Purity Ring and yuniVERSE were all about, but I felt a bit off-kilter. The performers of the night had asked and strongly encouraged everyone in attendance to wear a mask at this show. No big deal, right? I mean, come on, we did it for years. But this set me off. I'm not sure why, but putting a mask on was super triggering for my anxiety. Maybe it was because I didn't want to go back to the days when I didn't have live music to lean on, or perhaps it was just me getting in my own head, but I felt suffocated by the mask. Don't worry, I wore it as did the majority of the audience throughout the night, but it definitely set me off, and it took me a little bit to get comfortable with the idea that this was how my night was going to be spent.

Before I tell you about the two amazing acts that performed at First Avenue on Thursday, let me explain why masks were strongly encouraged at this show. As the headlining act, Purity Ring put it, "We want our shows to be a place where we take care of each other. Wearing a high-filtration mask is an act of material care and a show of solidarity with disabled and immunocompromised people. It's a small thing we can do to keep each other safe." Who am I to fight with that? Honestly, as much as wearing a mask was oddly triggering for me, I respected this band's decision to make this recommendation and wondered why more bands out there don't do the same thing. But I digress-- you are not here to read about the mask situation of the night, you're here to read about the show, so let's jump right into that because, oh boy, do I have a lot to say.

Indonesian-Australian producer and artist yuniVERSE was the one and only opener for this show. Although she seemed confined to just one little corner of the iconic stage, yuniVERSE instantly grabbed everyone's attention with her beauty and the simplicity of her set. Don't get me wrong —her pop-based sound was not simple; it was made up of textures from R&B to electronic —but there was something just so beautifully delicate and easy about her set. Standing against a backdrop of beautiful flowers, there was a flow that seemed to come not only from yuniVERSE's movements but also from her sound. Everything was clearly planned out and perfectly rehearsed, yet there was something organic about everything yuniVERSE was doing at the same time. I wish I had more to say about yuniVERSE because I truly loved everything about what she gave me, but I also feel like there isn't a lot to say. It was just one of those sets where I felt utterly captivated, and rather than taking notes on my phone so I could write a bunch about it, I opted to just stand back and enjoy the world of yuniVERSE.

I had heard Purity Ring's music a couple of times before going to this show. It's always struck me as being beautifully chill and calm. Don't get me wrong, it's great, but it just has never hit me as being something I had to see live. That being said, something in my gut told me that this was a show I couldn't miss, and who was I to go against what my gut was saying? So maybe their music wasn't going to be quite for me, but maybe their show would be. Ha- that's the understatement of the year.

I have never been more captivated by a live show than I was on Thursday night. The stage was crowded with these giant windmill-looking things. I wasn't surprised when they started spinning in anticipation for the duo to take the stage, but I was shocked as the lights began taking over the fans. I'm not talking about spotlights hitting the fans to make cool, unique shadows; I'm talking about how the fans were the lights, and how the lights moved between the fan blades so smoothly that it was more like watching scenes than watching moving lights. Does any of this make sense? I sure hope so because lord knows that my photos will never do this show justice. There were moments where I felt like I was watching fireworks explode right in front of my eyes, and other moments where it felt like the band was floating through millions of bright stars, and I was floating with them. Truthfully, there were even moments where I felt like my motion sickness was getting the best of me. The lights would ebb and flow with the electronic-based music that Purity Ring does so well, and, well, I was just completely lost. No other way to put it.

I'm not going to say that the lights were distracting because, although it was all eyes on the light show happening, it was all ears on the music from Purity Ring. Stylistically, this Canadian duo is electronic pop. It has EDM qualities but a more vulnerable and raw indie-pop kind of feeling. It's a cool sound, but, as mentioned, not one that's really ever done it for me. Now that I've seen the whole picture and have seen Purity Ring live, I get it. Their music is more than just a sound; it's a feeling, and being able to feel it live has changed everything. I'm being dramatic, I know, but I genuinely am just so taken aback by how I was taken away from my world while Purity Ring was on stage on Thursday. I talk a lot about how a good set can make you forget all of your worries and troubles, but this was so much more than that. They had me floating through space, they had me leaving my body and experiencing a sense of peace and calm that I genuinely don't think I have ever felt in my life. I am getting chills as I write this and think back to how I felt throughout their set.

Can you tell that I was struck by Purity Ring? I'm sure all of these words are coming off as slight gibberish, but I'm not going to apologize for that. Thursday night's show was one of those life-changing kinds of shows that I don't think I'll be getting over anytime soon.