A Verbose Review of PVRIS’s White Noise Livestream
American pop-rock band PVRIS has come a long way since I first saw them on the tiny Ernie Ball Stage at the Hartford stop of Warped Tour back in 2014. I have had the pleasure of seeing them live every year since then and, through the lens of their live show, witnessed their growth, both artistically and commercially.
When the pandemic caused the PVRIS show I had tickets for in May to be pushed back to 2021, I was saddened that my streak of seeing them live would come to an end. Then, on October 29th, the band announced that they would be performing their debut album White Noise in its entirety via livestream on November 21st. I was overjoyed! I could continue my streak, albeit on a technicality. The band also later announced that there would be livestream performances of their other two albums, with dates to be announced. As a longtime fan, I greatly appreciated that the band decided to do live performances of all of their albums and not just their most recent, which was released this year.
The livestream was ticketed and hosted through the service Pillar, which describes itself as “a new music community built to be the foundation of artists and fans.” Pillar seems to be a crossover between Patreon and Twitch that is designed specifically for music. Fans pay for access to the livestream and can also elect to become monthly or yearly supporters of the artist. Monthly and yearly supporters gain access to other exclusive content. In the case of PVRIS, the band did a video Q&A, created themed drinks with video tutorials, sold exclusive event-themed merchandise, and did virtual meet and greets with fans. Pillar also allows fans to post text and photos to the site, which many fans took full advantage of. Scrolling through the “Community Tab,” there are posts of meet and greet photos, record collections, fan art, PVRIS-inspired tattoos, and text posts thanking the band for the impact they have had on fans’ lives.
Overall, I have really enjoyed using Pillar. The site is responsive and well designed for the most part, with an intuitive user interface and pleasant user experience. I also appreciated how reasonably priced the event was. For just $14.99 plus a service fee, the one-time ticket granted a fan access to the livestream and one month of access to the fan community. I chose the “monthly supporter” tier, which is $9.99 per month. There is also a “yearly supporter” tier which is a one-time charge of $99.99. Compared to the $36.48 that I paid for a show that may or may not even happen, I think these prices are reasonable, and make the livestream more accessible to fans than a normal concert would be.
I have only two minor gripes with the service. The only issue I had with the functionality of the site was that the landing page that was tweeted out by the band had no “log in” button, only a button for purchasing tickets and a button for more details. I had purchased in advance, so I had to do some backtracking to be able to log in and access the livestream. My other complaint is that there is no dark mode on the desktop website. These lack of these two features did not significantly detract from the experience, but they would certainly improve it. Pillar has successfully created a place for fans to support the artists that they love. I am excited to continue using it, and hopefully, more artists will begin to use it as well.
The live performance itself was excellent. This year, PVRIS experienced its first lineup change since before I had first seen them in 2014. Officially, the band is now a duo consisting of frontwoman Lynn Gunn and bassist Brian Mac Donald. They are the only remaining original members of the band after guitarist Alex Babinski was fired from the band earlier this year due to allegations of sexual misconduct. Furthermore, this was only the band’s fourth performance with touring drummer Denny Agosto. Agosto replaced Justin Nace, who had been touring with PVRIS since 2014. Nace left the band for undisclosed reasons in January of 2020, and Agosto joined the band for a three-show UK tour in February. Something that initially threw me was that Babinski had been replaced with backing tracks rather than a new guitarist. This allowed the band to perform the album more accurately to the recording, but it left the stage feeling slightly empty.
Performances from the trio were strong, particularly from Gunn. Gunn has been candid about struggling with issues with her voice and even relearning how to sing. These issues were prominent during the touring cycle of their second album, which was extensive and likely grueling. I had noticed the issues Gunn was facing when I saw them play in Portland, Maine in May of 2018. When I saw them next, in Brooklyn in November of 2019, Gunn’s voice had markedly improved. This performance, however, was on a whole different level. This was, without a doubt, the best vocal performance I have seen out of Gunn in a live setting. Additionally, Gunn delivered a strong performance on guitar. Gunn plays a reliced black Fender Duo-Sonic HS, which proves to be a particularly versatile instrument, and perfect for the varying tones of White Noise. The natural tone of the guitar is excellent for the the twinkly fretboard tapping of “Eyelids” and a few slick and clean solos played throughout the set, while simultaneously itself particularly well to the overdriven chords of “Fire.”
MacDonald’s performance was a delight to my low-end loving ears. The tone of his bass shone through particularly well during the bass-driven tunes “Holy” and “Let Them In”. Seemingly due to the downsizing of the band, MacDonald was relegated to upstage left for this performance. Previously, he was stationed downstage left, next to Gunn. With this positioning, MacDonald seemed constrained and as a result unable to provide the energy he typically demonstrates on stage. This could also have been a direction from the camera crew, as his typical bouncing around would be difficult for the crew to predict and frame. Either way, the subdued MacDonald was an unusual sight to behold, but it had no negative impact on how he played.
Finally, stationed upstage right was Agosto on drums. Agosto played a four-piece Ludwig kit, accompanied by hi-hat, ride, and crash cymbals. Agosto played well, and accurately to the record. Compared to Nace, I found he played less explosively, utilizing cymbals less. This could be due to the fact that Agosto had half as many cymbals in his kit as Nace did. I could not identify the kind of cymbals that Agosto was using, but they felt drier than the Zildjian Custom A’s that Nace used, which I found led them to get lost in the mix on occasion. I also prefer the tone of Nace’s custom SJC kits that he played over the years to the sound of Agosto’s Ludwig. None of this is to say that I dislike how Agosto played. Replacing the adored longtime drummer of a band is no easy task, and I think that Agosto has really stepped up to the plate. I did particularly enjoy his performance during both “Fire” and “Mirrors”, and I am excited to see how he plays the other two albums. I also look forward to seeing the band live and determining if my complaints regarding his kit and cymbals were due to the instruments themselves or if it was a result of how they were mixed.
In addition to the fantastic performances by the band, the show was very well shot. There was a good variety in camera angles, smooth movement, and well-timed switches. The video quality was high, although I have reliably fast internet, so this may not have been a universal experience. The lighting design was excellent, as well. The lighting effects were paired very well with the music, and at no point did I find them overwhelming or distracting.
All in all, PVRIS put its best foot forward with this performance. They started this livestream series off with an excellent showing that leaves me excited to see more. I would really love to see live albums come out of this, as well. Watching this livestream was a fantastic experience, through the combined efforts of Pillar, the band, the camera crew, and the lighting designer. For me, it proved that livestreamed shows can be a viable option for both artists and fans who miss the live music experience.
This review was originally written for Prof. David Rowell’s AMGT 111 class at Dean College. There was a page minimum for the assignment which is why it is so long. I generally prefer to be more concise in my writing.
