PVRIS at Webster Hall

PVRIS Sold Out At Webster Hall

PVRIS is a band that only recently hooked me. I wish I could say that I’ve rocked with them for years but I actually have Apple radio (before it was Apple Music) to thank for introducing them to me. I can’t remember exactly which artist radio I was listening to but the point is that you never know when you’re going to find new music!

Last week I mentioned a few of my concert pet peeves as I explained the altercation that happened during this show. I didn’t let it rain on my parade and the fact that I walked away from the venue with a massive grin on my face proves that!

For those of you who might be out of the loop, PVRIS (pronounced Paris) is a band from Lowell, Massachusetts. The main members include Lyndsey aka “Lynn Gvnn” Gunnulfsen, Alex Babinski, and Brian MacDonald. Lynn is the lead singing female powerhouse of the group and also my #wcw from now until forever.

I could gush about how cool I think she is, how sick I think her haircut is or how much I wish I could command a stage like that, but on the off-chance that she ever reads this I’m going to play it cool.

Openers

There were three openers by the names of Polyenzo, CRUISR, and Lydia. That many opening acts can be a plus or a negative depending on who you’re talking to. For me, I personally feel like the number of openers can be a good or a bad thing depending on a few factors: how excited you are for the headliner, how well rested you are, how patient you are, and the state of the audience/venue.

In this particular case, I had been standing for hours, the crowd was on edge and I was super excited to see Lynn Gvnn and the guys from PVRIS perform.

Long story short, by the time the third band began to play my patience, was practically extinct. By the chatter and murmurs from the crowd around me, I could tell that I wasn’t the only person who had reached their limit.

I feel bad saying that, especially since the final opener – Lydia – was a five-man band with tons of energy and apparent enthusiasm for their craft. The keyboardist was so into his performance that he even broke the keyboard stand and had to play through a few songs with a roadie holding it up.

Still, I can’t help the way I feel. It doesn’t take away from their talent I had just simply tired of standing and wanted to get the show on the road!

Gratitude & Camaraderie

It’s common to hear a band thank their audience for coming out. Lynn Gvnn did plenty of that but what really stood out to me was how enthusiastically she, and the rest of the band, praised their supporting acts. There were multiple times during the show that they took the time out to thank them and made sure that the crowd cheered them on as well.

Being an opening act can be tough and the way that opener is received is pretty much determined by the fickle mood of the audience. They can easily be ignored regardless of how good they are so it’s nice to see that PVRIS made an effort to throw some love their way.

PVRIS also enthusiastically watched each act perform. How do I know this? Well, because I spent (probably too much time) watching them as they watched the show from the balcony level at Webster Hall.

I’ve been to this venue countless times at this point but I’ve never really seen a headliner watch their openers play. They typically stay hidden backstage somewhere. The obvious camaraderie of the bands is even more apparent if you check out any of their social media feeds.

The Stage

The stage set up was cool and I always appreciate it when an artist/band takes the time to develop a concept around their music and then sees it through.

When you watch their videos you’ll notice that each clip starts with a shot of a mirror and the things you see in each mirror changes depending on which song you happen to be listening to. It’s a great way to tie together the videos and give a hint at the story that is being told in each one before it begins.

The stage set up at the PVRIS show included a banner with the same mirror from their album, White Noise. The projections on the mirror changed with each track which was similar to their music videos.

No Phone Zone Performance

One of my favorite songs by them is “Holy.” It’s a song that really touches me and makes me feel vindicated, self-assured and stronger after every listen.

I would love to have a recording of this song but I don’t and I’m fine with that. Why? Before each performance of this song Lynn requests that the audience put their phones away and grades them on how well they were able to cooperate with her request.

I did my research before the show so I knew this request was coming. Still, even if I didn’t know I would have never disregarded what she had to say and whip my phone out anyway. Unfortunately, a girl right next to me was taping Lynn while she was asking them not to. [Insert all the eye rolls forever and ever] Yeah . . . because of that, we got a B+.

Overall

It would have been great to re-watch that song on my way home but y’know what? We don’t always need to have it on our phones. How many “memories” do you have on your phone that you never look at? Have you printed any of those images out?

I agree with her when she said that sometimes the best way to remember a moment is to be as present as possible when it’s actually happening. (Click to Tweet)

Studies have shown that our ability to hold memories is weakening because we store it on our devices and rely on them instead of our brains. I can’t remember where I read about that at the moment but I don’t think it’s all that hard to fathom.

As I mentioned earlier, when I left the venue I had the biggest grin on my face. Not because of the photos or the videos that I captured but because of the memories I walked away with.