It's hard to believe it's been almost 5 years since I've seen Pure Reason Revolution live. The first (and only) time was back in February 2007, where they supported Blackfield at the Astoria 2 in London. Since then, they've released another couple of albums, but sadly are calling it a day and embarking on one final tour around the country, including a stop at the Norwich Arts Centre.
I actually had a ticket to see them at the Arts Centre when they last played in Norwich, but due to double booking on a friends birthday, I was unable to attend. So when they announced a date on the farewell tour at the same venue, I jumped at the chance.
I'd never been to a gig at the Arts Centre before, and it's quite a cool little venue. I was shocked about how close to the stage you could get, though. No barriers at all, it felt like I was almost on the stage. It made for a nice intimate gig, you could even hear the tapping of the effects pedals between songs! The place was about three quarters full on the night, I'd say. Hard to gauge when I'd never been in there before, though.
The set from PRR would be split into two parts, with no support acts. The first part would be debut LP 'The Dark Third' played in it's entirety for the first and last time, then the second part would be material from their other two albums 'Amor Vincit Omnia' and 'Hammer And Anvil'.
The first album was a very progressive album indeed (in the more classic sense), and that was reflected in the playing, with pretty much no breaks (except for an amusing mess up during 'Bullitts Dominae' that caused the song to be restarted from the top) throughout the hour long performance. They're aren't the chattiest band I've seen live, but they did all seem to loosen up as the gig progressed.
It was good to hear the album played out in full, though, even if I had heard quite a bit of it live before back in 2007. But it was the second act I was more interested in...
The second two albums (and obviously, the second part of the show) moved to a more industrial, electronic sound, and got heavier, but still retained the harmonic vocals from bassist Chloe Alper and guitarist/keyboard player Jon Courtney.
While good on record, the live presentation of such songs as 'Les Malheurs' and 'Deus Ex Machina' were absolutely thumping live. Big industrial beats, bigger guitar riffs, it was a joy to witness live at last, and it's a massive shame that this will be the last time I'll be able to do so.
Pure Reason Revolution were a fantastic band, with such a diverse back catalogue, especially considering they only released 3 albums and a couple of EP's. I always remember the first time I heard 'Fight Fire' from the 'Hammer And Anvil' album, and I was convinced I had put the wrong album on! But at least we have the music to look back on, if not the fantastic live performances like this one.
****
At this point, I'd normally recommend you go see a band live, but unless you are reading this in the 3 days that remain that they are still playing together, that probably won't happen. But, it was a great performance from a great band, who will be missed. If you haven't heard their albums before, go find them.
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