{"id":3279,"date":"2012-07-09T13:15:54","date_gmt":"2012-07-09T17:15:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cultureaddicts.com\/?p=3279"},"modified":"2016-02-27T10:40:00","modified_gmt":"2016-02-27T15:40:00","slug":"live-review-dirty-projectors-purity-ring-at-torontos-danforth-music-hall-friday-july-6","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/cultureaddicts.com\/?p=3279","title":{"rendered":"Live review: Dirty Projectors & Purity Ring at Danforth Music Hall, Friday, July 6"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Matt Juniper<\/a><\/p>\n

A pair of critically acclaimed artists at very different points in their respective careers made their way to Toronto\u2019s Danforth Music Hall last Friday night to kick off an eight-leg joint tour. Both Dirty Projectors and Purity Ring have had strong interest surrounding them in 2012, with the buzz approaching a fever pitch in early July as both bands prepare to release albums. For Montreal\u2019s Purity Ring, it will be their highly anticipated debut album following on the heels of a string of singles beginning in 2011 that seemed to grow in quality and appeal with each release. For Brooklyn\u2019s Dirty Projectors, the art pop veterans are on the verge of a breakthrough into mass appeal. Their unique brand of disjointed rhythms and aggressive vocal harmonies has been divisive in the music community but has converted a cult of followers large enough to ensure that no Dirty Projectors release goes unnoticed.<\/p>\n

With doors opening at 9 p.m. and Purity Ring not set to take the stage until 10 p.m., a sizeable crowd showed up early to enjoy a beverage in the spacious venue while Purity Ring\u2019s simple-but-bizarre stage setup awaited. At 10 p.m. sharp Megan James and Corin Roddick took the stage to a venue over three quarters full with energetic fans. It was a nice surprise for an opening act and likely a result of both proper promotion of the double bill by Embrace (concert promoter) and Purity Ring\u2019s fast rising star.<\/p>\n

A timid and unsure crowd seemed puzzled as Purity Ring sauntered through slow-building opener Cartographist.<\/em> By the time the band transitioned in 2011 hit single Belispeak,<\/em> progress had been made \u2013 feet tapping, heads bobbing and a growing sense of energy in the room. The duo played almost exclusively in the shadows, illuminated only by glowing lights pulsating around Roddick with each transition in tempo.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

After six songs, Megan James decided the seating in the Danforth Music Hall didn\u2019t lend well to her band\u2019s hypnotic brand of synth pop and invited the crowd to leave their seats. Launching into Obedear<\/em> with the crowd at arm\u2019s reach, the band seemed infinitely more at home and closed their set triumphantly with Crawlersout<\/em> and Ungirthed<\/em>. Up close it was impossible not to notice the grin creeping across James\u2019 face at the prospect of yet another crowd won over on their rise to prominence. See the full setlist below.<\/p>\n

[youtube_sc url=”http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=wVcOwVD4V30″ theme=”light”]
\nDirty Projectors hit the stage just past 11 p.m. to the expected wild applause. With four days to go before the much-anticipated release of the band\u2019s latest album Swing Lo Magellan, I had expectations of a balanced blend of new and old material. Instead, the band launched into new album opener Offspring Are Blank<\/em> right off the bat and didn\u2019t look back, rattling off five new tracks in a row to an enthusiastic if not mildly perplexed crowd. It was an interesting decision and one that perhaps demonstrated lead singer David Longstreth\u2019s willingness to hedge his bets on the power of the internet: ‘Swing Lo Magellan’ had leaked online nearly two weeks before, which was followed shortly by an official stream.<\/p>\n

The new material is played confidently and lends itself well to the live atmosphere: the album is without a doubt the band\u2019s most accessible effort to date. Still, it appeared not everyone had downloaded the leak or spent time streaming it. \u201cThis next one should be a little more familiar\u201d, Longstreth says before finally playing Cannibal Resource<\/em> (the opener off of 2009\u2019s acclaimed album “Bitte Orca”) and we get a surge of energy in the room. \"\"<\/a>Taking a cue from Purity Ring before them, Longstreth takes advantage of the growing buzz and invites the crowd to leave their seats and move up to the front. With the crowd on their feet, even the new material seems to leave a stronger impression. The highlight of the evening is wisely saved for the encore with crowd favourites Stillness is the Move<\/em> and No Intention<\/em> leading off and the bombastic new track \u2018Unto Caesar\u2019 closing out the evening. As expected, Caesar<\/em> lends itself extremely well to the live show and will no doubt be closing out Dirty Projectors shows for some time to come.<\/p>\n

Overall, the night was a tremendous success. Rarely do a pair of bands from such distinct genres blend so well together. While Dirty Projectors\u2019 choice to lean heavily on new material (10 of the night\u2019s 15 tracks) may have alienated and disappointed fans not yet familiar with the songs, as someone who has spent the last two weeks with the album I can say with confidence that the live renditions will leave fans extremely pleased on future tour dates.<\/p>\n

[youtube_sc url=”http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=o_qFaFl7JVc” theme=”light”]
\nPurity Ring setlist:<\/strong>
\nCartographist
\nBelispeak
\nLoficries
\nAmenamy
\nFineshrine
\nSaltkin
\nObedear
\nCrawlersout
\nUngirthed<\/p>\n

Dirty Projectors setlist:<\/strong>
\nOffspring Are Blank
\nSee What She Seeing
\nAbout to Die
\nGun Has No Trigger
\nThe Socialites
\nCannibal Resource
\nBeautiful Mother
\nMaybe That Was It
\nDance for You
\nJust From Chevron
\nUseful Chamber
\nImpregnable Question<\/p>\n

Encore:
\nStillness is the Move
\nNo Intention
\nUnto Caeser<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Matt Juniper A pair of critically acclaimed artists at very different points in their respective careers made their way to Toronto\u2019s Danforth Music Hall […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20316,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[25,28,33],"tags":[315,370,431,660,752,943],"class_list":["post-3279","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-live","category-music","category-review","tag-danforth-music-hall","tag-dirty-projectors","tag-embrace","tag-july-6","tag-matt-juniper","tag-purity-ring"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureaddicts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/dirty-projectors-dmh-july-6.jpg?fit=350%2C541","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2B2TV-QT","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":35972,"url":"http:\/\/cultureaddicts.com\/?p=35972","url_meta":{"origin":3279,"position":0},"title":"Purity Ring share \u2018sinew\u2019 video + rescheduled tour dates","author":"cultureaddicts","date":"March 17, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Purity Ring\u00a0have shared the abstract and captivatingly enigmatic video for the track sinew, which was directed by Toby Stretch. Along with the video, the duo confirms their rescheduled tour dates across the US for fall 2021 - see new dates below. The track sinew is lifted from the duo\u2019s latest\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "electronic music"","block_context":{"text":"electronic music","link":"http:\/\/cultureaddicts.com\/?cat=13"},"img":{"alt_text":"Purity Ring press photo","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureaddicts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/70950659-6DD7-4076-A864-F1E8C91760FF.jpeg?fit=1092%2C728&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureaddicts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/70950659-6DD7-4076-A864-F1E8C91760FF.jpeg?fit=1092%2C728&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureaddicts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/70950659-6DD7-4076-A864-F1E8C91760FF.jpeg?fit=1092%2C728&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureaddicts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/70950659-6DD7-4076-A864-F1E8C91760FF.jpeg?fit=1092%2C728&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureaddicts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/70950659-6DD7-4076-A864-F1E8C91760FF.jpeg?fit=1092%2C728&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5741,"url":"http:\/\/cultureaddicts.com\/?p=5741","url_meta":{"origin":3279,"position":1},"title":"Young Magic creates SSENSE mix + tour with Purity Ring","author":"cultureaddicts","date":"December 12, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Young Magic have released a SSENSE mix which combines\u00a0Martin Denny's exotic piano jazz\u00a0before weaving into Japanese band Mariah's melancholic single, Door to the\u00a0Heart.\u00a0Young Magic's collaboration with Montreal duo Purity Ring, Grandloves, with its winding landscapes and ethereal vocals soak into\u00a0splintered samples of Arca's DOEP and later, S.Maharba's haunting vocals,\u00a0before the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "DJ Mix"","block_context":{"text":"DJ Mix","link":"http:\/\/cultureaddicts.com\/?cat=10"},"img":{"alt_text":"young magic","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureaddicts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/young-magic.jpg?fit=500%2C257&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":13817,"url":"http:\/\/cultureaddicts.com\/?p=13817","url_meta":{"origin":3279,"position":2},"title":"Pop Sandbox announces Purity Ring for new indie video game","author":"cultureaddicts","date":"June 1, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Toronto based studio\u00a0Pop Sandbox have announced the addition of\u00a0Purity Ring\u00a0to the list of musicians featured in their upcoming indie video game,\u00a0'LOUD on Planet X.' 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In addition, they have offered up a sample of the second score to the game from\u00a0Broken Social\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "indie"","block_context":{"text":"indie","link":"http:\/\/cultureaddicts.com\/?cat=23"},"img":{"alt_text":"LOUD on Planet X","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureaddicts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/LOUD-on-Planet-X.jpg?fit=800%2C454&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureaddicts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/LOUD-on-Planet-X.jpg?fit=800%2C454&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureaddicts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/LOUD-on-Planet-X.jpg?fit=800%2C454&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureaddicts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/LOUD-on-Planet-X.jpg?fit=800%2C454&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":34048,"url":"http:\/\/cultureaddicts.com\/?p=34048","url_meta":{"origin":3279,"position":3},"title":"Purity Ring shares new track \u2018i like the devil\u2019","author":"cultureaddicts","date":"April 13, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Purity Ring\u00a0have shared a final new song lifted from their album,\u00a0\u2018WOMB\u2019\u00a0which is out now via Crystal Math \/\u00a04AD: the propulsive i like the devil. \u2018WOMB\u2019 is Purity Ring\u2019s first album in more than five years. 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