[LIVE] An Evening with PVRIS @ The Studio at Webster Hall

It is a chilly, rainy night in June, and it feels as if November paid New York City a visit in honor of tonight’s sold out PVRIS show. The band’s smash hit album, White Noise, made its debut seven months ago but tonight it felt as if it were only yesterday. Selling out in a little under a minute, tonight’s Evening with PVRIS show at The Studio at Webster Hall, the most intimate you can get as space is limited, is only the beginning; the band, consisting of Lyndsey Gunnulfsen, Alex Babinski and Brian MacDonald, will make their second run at this summer’s Vans Warped Tour, and tonight was the kick-off event of the year.

I have a special attachment to certain venues due to circumstances out of my control. There’s something about hearing a song you connect with in a room where so much history has taken place for you personally. Kicking off the night with “Smoke,” PVRIS not only brought the elements of White Noise alive, but kick-started a lot of emotions I’ve kept buried for quite some time. “Oh you’re killing me right now,” the crowd echoed back to Lynn. Inside my heart was opening and I knew I was due for another breakthrough.

The crowd went wild during the band’s breakout hit, “St. Patrick;” a song about having someone (whether real or fantasy) take you away from the shit in your head and everyday life. “I need a miracle to bring me back to you. I know you’re gone now, but I still wait for you,” felt too surreal to hear live, thinking back on the last time I visited this venue. Synchronicity or a curse? I’m thinking maybe both. Once the band broke out into my personal favorite, “Holy,” the room felt more like a campfire sing-a-long, reminding everyone of why we love live music in the first place.

I connect White Noise with a past relationship that was quite unpleasant. It helped me sort through the rot that someone left in my brain, causing me to lose those negative thoughts implanted and come out a stronger woman. Last song and most pivotal moment of the night, “My House,” made strong waves in the crowd and my sent my entire body into a tidal wave of empowerment. “Haven’t you heard? I’m not yours anymore! It’s my soul…and I think it’s time to get out.” Indeed. It got out.

As the night went on, it only became clear that this trio will be around for quite some time. Good thing because I’m going to need them around for more nights like this. It didn’t feel like time to say goodnight, playing roughly around 45 minutes, but I got what I needed. Maybe I’m the only person in the entire crowd of 400 who took these songs and digested them into pieces of herself that needed mending, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Setlist

Smoke / St. Patrick / Mirrors / Fire / Ghosts / Holy / Eyelids / White Noise / My House