Purity Ring Return to Showbox SoDo

We headed to the Showbox SoDo to catch Purity Ring perform. They were on tour supporting their new eponymous album, and just like the ones before, we really enjoy it. Each act of this night really felt like the perfect mix of visual and audio art. As the crowd entered the venue, you could see three very distinct setups. On the left, a group of oversized flowers making you feel like you’re in a fairyland. On the right, a white box with a small drum set standing in front. In the middle, an impressive amount of what looked like thin fan blades taking up most of the stage.

Opening this 3-act show of the night was the solo artist YUNIVERSE, aka Yuni.

Having released music as early as 2022, some of her songs have even been co-produced by Corin Roddick of Purity Ring. This is apparent as her similarly electronic-dreampop style shines when she takes the stage and starts dancing in front of the colorful giant flowers on the compact side of the stage set up for her. While she wasn’t wearing any wings, Yuni felt like the main fairy of this beautiful backdrop. This image was slightly shattered when she mentioned that she felt like she was going to “sh*t her pants” from being so nervous. Based on Yuni’s impressive dance moves that accompanied her consistently fun vocals, you would have never guessed. One of the last songs she played was titled “Butter Chicken Lover,” which I think we can all agree to identify with. If you’re already a Purity Ring fan, it’s not a far stretch that you’d enjoy Yuni’s full discography.

Almost immediately after Yuni finished up her set, the next solo artist entered the stage from the other side and sat down at the drum set in front of the blank white screen. As the lights go down, the screen lights up and silhouettes the drummer in front of it. The artistry of this set is realized as he starts the first few hits of these drums and the screen behind digitally begins to react to each hit. Brett Bolton is an audiovisual artist from Las Vegas, Nevada. Brett’s performances are purposefully set up as a real time experience as his digital visuals are rendered on the spot. With circles bouncing back and forth, or squares dragging from corner to corner, these visuals pair so well with Brett’s impressive drum skills paired with the usage of other digital boards to control the accompanying visuals. If you’re based in Las Vegas yourself, his November 7th release party is sure to be a full body experience.

Purity Ring‘s song “Bodyache” has always felt like it’s been part of my life, and yet somehow, it’s only been 10 years since the release of this transformative electro dreampop track. This Canadian duo originally formed in 2010 and while this latest album isn’t their first, they’ve chosen it to be their self-titled purity ring. This album embodies the teenage years of playing Final Fantasy, DDR, and other mid-2000’s electronic media. The visuals that accompany this album really feels like you’re diving into a JRPG adventure, and the music pulls you in to feel like you’ve entered a new region of the map or encountered the final boss of the game. Purity Ring opened the show with my favorite of the new album, “many lives.”

Purity Ring set themselves in between two layers of the fan-like structures taking up the stage with Corin Roddick in between the two layers, and Megan James behind both on a raised backing stage. As these fans begin to spin, it becomes clear that they are LED blades that display 3D-feeling visuals that instantly immerse the two band members in constantly changing environments.

Roddick himself had a large drum pad tilted towards the audience that he would strike with his hands, and streams of lights would emanate from those struck pads. These fans would later visualize environments like crystal fields, a beautiful forest, and even talking faces that really felt like they reached out into the audiences. This setup really made it feel like the two were tucked into this virtual world on stage as the visuals created these still environments or expanded particles in every direction. While most of the show focused on their newest self-titled album, we were treated to a few classics like “Push Pull” from “Another Eternity” and “pink lightning” from WOMB.