A tearful Obituary

Formed in 2003, Pure Reason Revolution have since released three albums, supported bands such as Mew, Placebo, and Porcupine Tree and have received critical acclaim. However they have only ever attracted a small cult following, so this gig marks the end of 8 years of what guitarist, Jamie Willcox, described after as “a labour of love”. Maybe the mix of new progressive rock and electro is too much for the general public.

As this was their final gig, they decided to leave us with a two hour concert consisting of their first, and arguably their best, album The Dark Third, played back to back in its original form. This suffered from a lack of a fifth member who left the band whilst touring in 2006: as a quartet they unfortunately had no choice but to use extensive backing tracks for this final rendition. But it is more than made up for by the three-part vocal harmonies which are what set this band apart from most other bands trying to resurrect prog rock.

The second half was a meant to evoke a party mood with a focus on their more upbeat electro songs from their latter two albums ending on a crowd favourite ‘AVO’, a stripped down song which captures the essence of the band. Usually a cheery group, they were understandably in a sombre mood and found it hard to break a smile throughout the show. They were close to tears after the last song.

Support was provided by Losers, fronted by Tom Bellamy of The Temple Cooper Clause, who also co-produced PRR’s latest album. Losers’ most recent single, ‘Summertime Rolls,’ features vocals from Brian Molko from Placebo and incorporates both rock and electronica.

I first saw Pure Reason Revolution in early 2007 and they have progressed a lot both in their recorded and live work. I have since seen them five times and every time they are more than happy to have a conversation with me afterwards, so I am sad to see them split. I have however been told to keep an eye out for their individual projects in the future.