Review: PVRIS @Manchester Academy

Apr 8, 2016
3 min read

When in April 2015 a fledgeling Pvris took to the stage of Manchester’s Academy 3, they could hardly of known that one short year later their success would warrant them returning to a much bigger venue. Yet in spite of their unusually quick ascent into the big leagues, reflected in their last-minute upsizing from Academy 2, the trio are anything but ingenues. The pressure to prove themselves is still there, and as such they came to conquer.

First though, Alvarez Kings take to the stage, shuffling somewhat eerily on to the dark refrain of The Doors classic My Wild Love. What follows is something different to what you might expect though, with the languid minimalism quickly giving way to just the right kind of progressive indie pop to please the genre-spanning crowd.

The Sheffield-based band don’t take the 2,000 strong crowd for granted, with vocalist Simon even explaining that playing the venue is a dream come true and a milestone, and it shows. They pulled out all the classic tricks that make intimate shows so special and amplified them; involving the audience at every opportunity, wading out into the crowd, and breaking up the set with an acoustic interlude including the syrupy Light Up The Sky. What could have been standard fare was made special by the humbleness and earnest of the band, and from the crowd gathered around them at the merch table it was clear they won a lot of hearts.

Hailing from California, K.Flay proved herself to be the perfect counterpart to her predecessors, bringing hard edges to the Alvarez Kings’ sweetness and light. Her set was an explosion of fast-paced, ferocious lyrics with a clear dance twist, and despite throwing herself around the stage her energy never waned. The Warped Tour alumni made it clear she was a force to be reckoned with in her own right, with a delicious mix of raw, growling vocals, delicate music box openings and a generous dose of rap.

Her set was livened up further by a surprise visit from none other than Lynn Gunn herself, who snuck in among the dry ice and strobes to take a turn drumming. If the crowd weren’t in a frenzy before, the sight of their idol rocking out in tandem with her support acts certainly pushed them over the edge, but it wasn’t a gimmick so much as a genuine moment between friends. A lot has been said about women in alternative music needing to stick together, and K.Flay justified her place at Pvris’ side.

By 9:30 the crowd were more than ready for the big event, and Pvris defied expectations. They are a band of pure theatre, the sight of the monochrome trio standing against their giant mirror backdrop proved that, and every part of their set was perfectly orchestrated in case it needed proving further. The stage was alive and in tune with the musicians throughout, cycling through images of the moon, strange hooded figures, and even a ghostly apparition of Lynn herself before returning to the classic image made famous by their album cover.

As stunning as the Backdrop was though, all eyes were on the musicians, and rightly so. Given that the songs could only come from their 2014 debut White Noise or it’s acoustic companion, every song was rehearsed to perfection, with the crowd anticipating every note and nuance almost as skillfully as the people on stage. Vocally Lynn was on top form too, taking the normally ethereal top notes of firm favourites like St. Patrick and Smoke from gentle to a belt that could have brought the roof down. The addition of acoustic offerings like Only Love and Ghost gave Lynn a chance to thank everyone for the opportunity and the crowd a chance to catch their breath, while the combination of Eyelids and the washed out lights of the stage evoked a delightfully ghoulish carnival-mirror-horror-prom vibe.

As the set roared to a close, with Let Them In, You And I and My House firing of in quick succession, it was clear that Pvris had cemented themselves in Manchester’s eyes as America’s foremost producers dark electro-pop. Halloween had come early and wasn’t about to go anywhere, and though the crowd was a sea of black-clad teenagers and the stage’s only colour came in the form of a burning red star during Fire, April 6th proved to be anything but a grey day.