Purson @ Waterfront Studio

Purson have been very much on my radar for some time so I was chuffed when they were announced to play Norwich.

Tonight’s a busy night in our fine city, with Wolf Alice at UEA, Hooky downstairs at the Waterfront, Ducking Punches at the Arts Centre and no doubt a multitude of other great gigs too, so I’m delighted to see a not-bad-at-all turn out in the Studio. Having really liked what I’d heard of support act Crosa Rosa online, I was not disappointed with their live set; in fact they are one of the best bands I’ve seen for a good while. They’re young but confident and believable, without the silliness and throwaway quality that a lot of mid 20’s band carry with them. This is great music, reminiscent of early Nirvana, that is delivered in a passionate and serious manner, just how I like it. They play very well indeed, and there’s a meatiness to their sound that I can really get on board with. I’m genuinely excited to see how they develop but to be honest I like ‘em enough just as they are now.

Purson certainly look the part tonight in full ‘70’s get up, although such is the mythos associated with this band that I fully believe they wear this gear just to nip to the shops. Their 12 song set consists of some tracks from the forthcoming album Desire’s Magic Theatre like Dead Dodo Farm and the title track, as well as older bangers like their debut single Rocking Horse and Spider Wood Farm from The Circle and the Blue Door. Mesmerising frontwoman Rosalie has an absolutely huge voice, reminding me of Grace Slick or Siouxsie with a hint of Kate Bush that she uses to her best advantage, sometimes bellowing, sometimes crooning, but all the while in total control. She carries herself like a proper star considering she is but young, and to be honest it’s a rare delight for me to see a band with a female lead singer who knows what’s she doing and is musically very aware. She’s a great guitar player too, and some of the best moments of their set for me are when she and fellow axewielder George get busy together. Despite some small, intermittant technical difficulties, and the band appearing onstage to set up ahead of the set (which ruined some of the mystery) they perform incredibly well, and quite honestly blow me away with their stage presence and musical ability. I always knew they would. Many might write them off as a novelty or throwback act by just looking at this band. But listen to their music and you’ll discover how multi layered, intense, original and intriguing it really is. Sure, they’ve been inspired by Hendrix, Deep Purple, Bowie and The Small Faces, and sure, you can hear all those influences at times. But they’ve clearly worked really hard to make their own original sound. There are moments of full on hard rock. There are moments of delicate folk, with tinkling keys. There are moments of beefy blues riffs. There are moments of prog madness. There are moments of LSD tinged psych. It all merges to create a genuine, deep hearted show. There are a few girls at the front properly bugging out, and everyone seems to be down with it. They return for an encore of Wanted Man, one of my favourites, and it sure is a sexy and epic beast when heard live... it’s pretty tough to get my feet back on the ground at the end of the set.

This very accomplished, passionate and entertaining gig lit me on fire tonight - I’ll be following the Crosa Rosa and Purson paths hence to see where they lead.