LONDON SHOW!! November 26

[the dark fourth]

Tanner sounds pretty cool for a DJ outfit. Seems to know what he's doing. Domino State sounds awesome. Really very impressed by what's on their myspace.

[ryan]

Right... hmm...

Deus Ex Machina was brilliant. By far the highlight.

Three things let it down for me.

FAR too much backing track. Bright Ambassadors was pretty guff because of that, far too lifeless I thought. Based on that, I'd be happy to see it go. If they need a 5th member to make it work then get one or drop it. A couple of other songs suffered too, a real shame. Also, the backing track should be backing, it was often far too loud.
The new stuff that's obviously been written for a four piece was much better, although one of them had vocal harmonies on a backing track which looked silly. You could hear Chloe on that more than her live singing, which made her look like she was miming. I know she was singing live bits too, but it looked a bit suspect.

The Projections. Pointless much? Mostly the same short thing (the logo appearing from/turning into stars), badly looped. Maybe because I do it myself, but I found it distracting. When they actually used something, it seemed too random. Intention Craft was the worst offender. Seemed to be there just because it could be. Also, whoever was doing missed all the cues. What they had before worked, but the old type2error stuff looks too old school proggy for this new direction, it just doesn't work with the band now.

And the fucking camera man. I mean jesus. I thought he was really unprofessional, getting right in front of Jamie just to get shots of Chloe, being all over the stage and up in the bands faces. If you have a big stage then go for it, get in there a bit more, there's more space and you don't look like a dick, but Cargos stage is tiny. Could have done equally well from the side of stage, even if he stood on the edge (I speak from experience). He even could have been more tactful about being closer I though. I thought it looked unprofessional for him (if he had one, his director) and for the band. It made the gig feel put on PURELY for the DVD (and based on the number of cameras I saw I wonder if that'll use this stuff), which perhaps it was, but I shouldn't feel like I'm there just to make up a crowd. It stopped me feeling connected to the band.



So yeah, there's not a lot positive in there sorry. Bit shit being first post up n'all. I did enjoy it really. The last run of songs was cool, and the new stuff was great, but there's still those grips. The backing track being the biggest. I'm sure the second two are more because it's work I'm involved in so I notice it more.

Real shame about Jamies amp at the start but can't be helped. Good on the guy who lent him one.

[stumoo]

I agree about the cameraman, that really didn't work. I did my best to ignore him.

The backing track didn't bother me too much, I'm used to it at PRR gigs.

The projections bothered me even less - I hardly noticed them, I was watching the band.

Anyway, the most important thing was the music. I liked the new tracks that I heard, for absolute certain. It was also very cool to have the 4-song encore of older tunes (I just love The Intention Craft!). And yes, Deus Ex Machina is a magnificent tune.

What was better about this gig compared to previous ones is how the vocals were brought right to the front. The vocal harmonies are mostly what make PRR special and I've been disappointed at other shows about how the vocals were muddy and unclear. No such problem tonight.

[ryan]

I was more towards the back, so I could see the heads or the projections. Or the cameraman. It wasn't a massive thing, just added to what I felt was a bit underwhelming. And like I say, I just happen to notice that more. I also really liked what they used to have, it just doesn't fit now.

I thought the drums were a bit too loud n'all. And I only noticed it was in quadraphonic sound in the tune before the encore, though when the used it, it sounded AMAZING.

The thing with the backing track is that I'm not used to it. I've seen PRR 3 times without thingy (I can't be arsed to look it up now), compared to 12-13 with him. While there was stuff on the backing track with him there, it all felt a lot more live what with the extra vocals, more live keys, violin and the help on bass. There was live bass for almost all of Bright Ambassadors for example. It didn't bother me so much at Water Rats (the KOKO thing was appalling, tough time that though), but I thought it really took away tonight. To the point where I wondered how much a(nother) live document is really needed.

The encore sounded much better though. The backing track was lower and the guitars were up. It felt like the backing was supporting the band, like it used to. Too many of the main set songs it threatened to overwhelm the band a bit. The encore was nice, Intention Craft has always been wonderful live.

I just came away feeling a bit... underwhelmed maybe? I'd really been looking forward to it. BUT the new tunes were ace, and I'm still really excited about the new album. I think it's clear they were writing for a four piece, and it worked.

Sorry, this is all really negative isn't it? I'm trying to weigh it up a little too. I just felt like I needed to expand on my views a bit... maybe I'll just leave it for now. See what other people thought.

[Neillwith2Ls]

Similar thoughts about the gig here too, hmm...

We wandered in to catch 2nd support band The Domino State who I quite liked; playing a kind of shoegaze/indie rock (Nugaze?) that sounded pretty good. Guitars drenched in reverb, shimmering melodies and a tight punchy rhythm section which reminded me off all sorts: Editors, early U2, Glasvegas, even some Joy Division.

I bought a 4-track CD on the back of the performance, and picked up a flyer only to find they're supporting Coldplay at The O2 Arena in a few weeks! My only thought was that the songs sounded a little same-y (in a good way) and they could have perhaps benefitted from a different sound; one of the guitar players playing piano/keys occasionally maybe? No biggie though, enjoyed their short set.

www.myspace.com/thedominostate

So onto the main event. Pure Reason Revolution were due on at 9.30pm, but they were still setting up around then, so that was out the window. We just hoped they got the sound right this time, as tonight was a bit of shit-or-bust gig for us three I think; the last few gigs have had their problems and we weren't convinced with the new material particularly.

They were filming the gig for a DVD that will come out with a special edition of the new album (due in 'late Feburary' according to Jon at the end of the gig), but this 'filming' seemed to just consist of one mobile camera guy wandering around the stage getting under their noses! The band ambled on around 9.45 I guess, and launched into a keyboard-heavy new song which was only really Jon and Chloe and a lot of backing track.

By the time the 2nd track (another newie) started it was clear there were problems however. Jamie's guitar amp was no responding at all and despite frantic efforts to set things right they stopped the gig mid-song, and left the stage for "10 minutes" while they tried to fix things. PRR seem to have this curse hanging over them with live gigs; there always seems to be something that happens to make certain the gig isn't a success, be it a poor sound, them being too loud or not being able to hear themselves onstage.

The amp turned out to be beyond repair, so a frantic call was made to the guitarist in The Domino State who was apparently on his way home to see his new-born kid! He turned round and, as Chloe put it when they re-emerged, "delivered us an amp instead". Top bloke for doing that. So they re-started the song they'd abandoned previously and the gig started proper. Jamie was clearly p*ssed off though, and he spent a good half/two-thirds of the gig, grimacing, fiddling, adjusting and shaking his head while grappling with his new Peavy combo amp.

Now the good bits! The sound was very good (although still quite loud; too loud at one point) and the separation was pretty good. The drums had a nice crack to them - Paul is a top drummer incidentally - and the bass was nicely audiable for a change. We had a good spot dead centre about 4 rows back and got a good sound there, although the guitars were lost in the mix early on. The new songs didn't convince me however, and it was on the older, Dark Third material that the gig trully picked up.

They left the stage after only around 45 minutes, but returned for a 4-song encore with started with a fantastic Bright Ambassadors Of Morning by which time the guitars were up to ful strength and even Jamie seemed to be smiling (occasionally!). The crowd seemed to really enjoy it, despite thinning out it seemed; I was able to step up to nearer the front by the end. They left the stage at 11pm apologising for the hitches and thanking us for our patience.

I thought this was the 2nd best performance I'd seen them do, the best being the first time I saw them at The Islington Academy when they still had Jim in the band (he's still missed I think). I'll definitely be getting the new album, and will catch another few shows on the supporting tour but, as Mark put it on our way back to Old Street tube afterwards, will PRR be destined to be one of those "nearly" bands with one great album?

[ant]

I really enjoyed the gig by the end. It been a while since I last saw them and the overall sound balance on the old songs was much better than before, you could hear the vocal much better.

Not always enough guitar for my taste but that could have been due to Jamie having to put up with an unfamiliar amp which just didn't have the rounded sound of the marshall. He didn't seem happy until towards the end, but the extended encore was just excellent.

I hadn't heard the 3 new tracks before, the first presumably Les Malheurs, didn't do alot for me but the others presumably Apogee and Gloaming have a lot of potential as a direction and seemed like good tracks on first listen. In my opinion they need a lot a work live to get the sound right on those but that will come I mean the difference in the older stuff compared what it used to be like was outstanding.

Wasn't bothered by the back projections didn't see anything wrong with using them when they could. The camera man didn't bother me either but I would have thought he would put off the band why did he need to get so close.

All in all a good gig, looking forward to seeing them again soon and hearing the new tracks on cd.

[stumoo]

Nov 27, 2008 2:38:45 GMT ryan said:

I
The thing with the backing track is that I'm not used to it. I've seen PRR 3 times without thingy (I can't be arsed to look it up now), compared to 12-13 with him. While there was stuff on the backing track with him there, it all felt a lot more live what with the extra vocals, more live keys, violin and the help on bass. There was live bass for almost all of Bright Ambassadors for example. It didn't bother me so much at Water Rats (the KOKO thing was appalling, tough time that though), but I thought it really took away tonight. To the point where I wondered how much a(nother) live document is really needed.

Jim (or thingy, if you prefer) was simultaneously an integral part of the band's live sound but also a problem. They went their separate ways (as has been argued about many times on this board), and because they did, the band must have thought it would be better that way.

As for finding a new member - do you know any other keyboard-mashing bass-playing violin-shredding singers out there?

[ryan]

Jim, that's it. I think in personal terms, it's better he's gone. Totally. I'm not disputing that, don't get me wrong. As for getting a new member? Well that's up to them, I think they can work round it.
The violin, fair enough it needs to be on the backing track, not fussed about that. What I think is they either need to drop some of the parts from the songs, and make them more guitar led. At least get the backing track turned DOWN.

[ant]

Seems to me they have been moving in the direction of cutting some of the backing keys. The keyboard run bits on Bright Ambassadors for instance seem to have disappeared and the track is now more guitar orientated and it is still great, just in different ways. Presumably they have been doing it that way for a while as its like that on the Nearfest recording.

[the dark fourth]

Wow, what a range of opinions here! Let me throw my two pennies in by saying it was the best I've ever seen them live.

The set, if I remember right, was:

Les Malheurs
Apogee of my love
Deus Ex Machina
Bright Ambassadors
Victorious Cupid
Trembling Willows
Gloaming
---
In Aurelia
Borgens Vor
Voices in Winter
Intention Craft

To start with the bad points, which were few: Jamie's amp blew up. And they had to stop in the middle of the second track. Not good. Poor old Jamie never quite recovered, he was drowning his sorrows after the gig saying he was annoyed that his guitar parts didn't sound as good as they would have. Backing tracks. That bit where there seemed to be two Chloes singing was, as Ryan rightly pointed out, a bit weird. I hope they can do something about that. But for the most part the backing tracks didn't sound overbearing at all. If anything, they seemed to be less strong than in the past.

Now for the good points. The sound was excellent, which is a lovely surprise for a PRR gig! The riffs were coming out nice and heavy, with none of that tinny-too-much-treble sound they sometimes get and which was the only drawback from the Nearfest album. None of the parts were too lost in the mix, the volume wasn't too high, and generally everything went well in the sound department, bar exploding amps. The vocals were even more fantastic than normal. Now that people have mentioned it, I do see what they mean about that annoying camera man. But at the time I didn't even notice it. Maybe it was cos he was over with Jamie and Chloe most of the time, and I was up in front of Jon. Projections were rather pointless and stupid, but didn't detract at all from the performance.

Gloaming for me stole the show. It's improved so much since the water rats, and just seemed insanely cool, with that awesome electronica-PRR blend that I LOVE. Easily as good as Deus now (and I don't say that lightly!). Apogee was also very cool, in time it could be as good a song as any in the PRR canon. I think because the new stuff is so exciting, different and, well...new, it made the old stuff slightly less exhilarating than it used to be. I just know all the old songs too well. But they were still as cool as ever. Ambassadors was better than it has been. And as many have remarked, the encore (which was all old songs) was great. I really like how they've transfered VIW and Borgens to the encore, I think it works well, and it's nice as a change.

Overall, a brilliant night, and from those that I talked too, it seemed very well received.

[ryan]

Nov 27, 2008 15:50:24 GMT the dark fourth said:

I think because the new stuff is so exciting, different and, well...new, it made the old stuff slightly less exhilarating than it used to be.

I defiantly agree with this. I'm far more excited for the album off the back of that performance actually.
That bit in Gloaming when the used the quadraphonic set-up to send the samples all the way round the room was amazing. So so good.

I was totally into the old stuff in the encore, much more so than the main set. There was a clear change in the mix and the guitars were bought up, everything I've said about the backing track can be ignored for the encore really. It was Ambassadors and Willows that suffered.

[the dark fourth]

Yes Willows more than Ambassadors in my opinion. Just because I have such high expectations for Willows, whereas I've never particularly rated Ambassadors as a live track.

[isador21]

They perfected Gloaming!?

[blondeambassador]

Gloaming live is pretty much there now, yeah...exciting!
The other new ones remind me of how Gloaming sounded a few months ago, which I think is understandable and fills me with confidence for how they are going to develop. I love Les Malheurs but I don't necessarily think it should be the set opener and Apogee is brilliant.

I had a really good time, I love the new tracks though I feel that the obviously unavoidable problem with Jamie's amp might have broken up the run of at the start which was a real shame. The cameraman (and girl in the front row, who also said she was filming for the DVD) WERE very annoying, although I'm sure they got on Chloe and Jamie's nerves even more than they did ours.

I didn't overly notice the backing track more than usual, maybe I've just become used to it...I also missed Willows and that seems to be where it was particularly bad. I'd certainly rather there weren't any vocals on the backing though, definately. The projections weren't really anything to comment on but they didn't do any harm to me, I wasn't really watching them. Quite liked that they were still running on a screen in the bar afterwards though, TDT thing with stars and Pure Reason Revolution on it looked good projected in the bar, though I'm not entirely sure that was purposeful!

All in all, a good night...probably not the best I've seen them but out of 22 times that's a pretty high accolade. It's sad that they do seem to be a band riddled with technical problems, I mean, if we think it's frustrating, imagine how they must find it! But the sound was good from where I was standing, the new stuff is coming on nicely and the old stuff is all still sounding great to my ears.

Oh...and I LOVED Cargo, they can go back there again!! And basically, aside from that bring on March!! Oh, and nobody's mentioned the fact, as we've been predicting, Jon said at the end 'We're working on a new album, it will be out late Febuary.' So out before the tour hopefully.

[ryan]

I wondered if she was for the DVD. They'd be better off buying the rights from whoever recorded them the other week, I'd be surprised if they got anything very good out of that...
And I doubt it was intentional, Cargos manager wasn't impressed when I pressed the wrong button and got our projections going in the bar! hehe.