Words & pics by Eleanor Sutcliffe
I doubt I’ve ever seen O2 Academy this busy. As we are filed into the venue, I’m truly surprised and slightly overwhelmed at the number of people who’ve come to see PVRIS tonight. In hindsight, this shouldn’t have been surprising – with frequent airplay on Radio 1, they’ve become a staple in the alternative rock scene and are gaining more and more fans by the minute.
First up was Tyne, a 19-year-old chill pop artist hailing from Cambridge. She set the bar exceedingly high for the evening – if you’re a fan of the likes of Lorde, Halsey and Gabrielle Aplin, then you’ll love her stuff. Tracks like ‘Crawl’ and ‘Girly’ crept under my skin and had me yearning to hear more, while her cover of Bring Me Horizon’s ‘Avalanche’ was executed to soul splitting perfection.
Tyne has the ability to combine meaningful lyrics with electronic rhythms without beating the life out of it like so many other artists do. She’s clearly destined for great things; I’d highly recommend catching her at a show and giving her a listen.
The next act couldn’t have been further from the last. COIN owned the stage for the next thirty minutes or so, belting out track after track of indie pop perfection. Their energy was intoxicating as singer, Chase Lawrence, cavorted across the stage, jumping on and off the drum kit to thrash out melodies on the synthesizers. The crowd adored it, dancing along to the summery beats of tracks like ‘Talk Too Much’. If the Arctic Monkeys and Circa Waves were to have a lovechild, then Nashville based COIN would be the result.
Then, finally… PVRIS. I’d heard mixed views of their live performances from friends and through work, and was really hoping for a show I could rave about for hours on end.
And to an extent, I could. Visually, the setup was stunning – strobe lights lit the stage while large screens projected flickering flames and embers as Lynn went to town on hits such as ‘St Patrick’ and ‘My House’. PVRIS’s setlist was varied enough to have a taste of their newer material from their latest release, All We Know Of Heaven, All We Need Of Hell, while still recalling back to tracks from White Noise.
However, Lynn’s gospel-like voice seemed to struggle at times against the heavy crescendo of guitar and drums from bandmates Alex and Brian. And although many members of the crowd were happy dancing at the front, I’d have enjoyed the show much more if I was sat up in the balcony of O2 Academy.
PVRIS more than made up for these few flaws, as I truly am nitpicking here. Their interaction with the crowd was heartfelt and genuine too, with Lynn exclaiming how, apart from at festivals, this was the largest crowd they had ever played to.
PVRIS @ O2 Academy Birmingham 23.11.17 / Eleanor Sutcliffe – Birmingham Review
For more on PVRIS, visit www.pvris.com
__________
COIN – supporting PVRIS @ O2 Academy Birmingham 23.11.17 / Eleanor Sutcliffe – Birmingham Review
For more on COIN, visit www.thisiscoin.com
__________
Tyne – supporting PVRIS @ O2 Academy Birmingham 23.11.17 / Eleanor Sutcliffe – Birmingham Review
For more on Tyne, visit www.officialtyne.com
For more from the O2 Academy Birmingham, including full event listings and online ticket sales, visit www.academymusicgroup.com/o2academybirmingham