10 March 2016 (gig)
31 March 2016
History says that the 100 Club is a one of London’s finest venues. Attending a concert, being less than average height and with three massive square pillars in front of the stage says it’s not fit for purpose.
That aside this place always has a special atmosphere and the bands do appear to get something from it. Openers Crosa Rosa get a good response and the fuzzed up garagers should take heart from this performance. They are an engaging three piece with some good riffing and stage presence to match.
Purson are on an ever upwards trajectory. Hard touring and some good slots have helped to lift their profile and now with a new album ready to go there’s this headline tour. Opening with Desire’s Magic Theatre – title track from the new album – is bold. It’s a great song but doesn’t quite light the touch-paper. The band are doing all the right things, moving about the stage with Rosalie Cunningham at the centre – destined to be one of the most unique presences and great voices in rock. She’s also one hell of a guitarist and when she spars with George Hudson it’s something special. But it just feels a little laboured until the more familiar Spiderwood Farm takes the concert on a different course.
No real explanation why. There’s a concentration of newbies here with the Hendrix vibe of (naturally) Electric Landlady, the drunkenness tester Dead Dodo Down, The Sky Parade being the big hitters. It’s just they click and collectively off they go. Bass and drums intertwine – there’s a threat of a drum solo that doesn’t happen - and the two leads just relax and get into the groove. Unfortunately, the organ is tonight all but inaudible thus rendering Purson a much harsher sound than they would usually have, and robs them of the imaginative, psychedelic patterns that are so integral to them.
They have a bit of a trippy, hippy maybe even dippy image but they are not flowerpower revivalists. There’s a muscularity about the songs and performance that takes them well away from the brown acid cohorts. So inspired as they are by that era, they aren’t weighed down by it, and are very much looking to the future.
Photo courtesy of Spinefarm Records.
