Words: Smiltė Fadėjevaitė
On the 27th of November, I went to see Pumarosa perform their new LP ‘Devastation’ at the Evolutionary Arts Hackney (EartH) venue. Having seen other gigs of similar psych post-punk-ish atmosphere in this venue before, EartH made an impression of a space that successfully balances being an intimate bar gig experience and a large venue, without losing some of the charms of either. So you could probably understand my confusion when upon entering I saw that someone had somehow decided to make this a seated concert at their main concert hall and not at the smaller, familiar and in my opinion more fitting area at EartH. The new LP ‘Devastation’ is as inviting to dance to as the band’s first album, with a wonderful addition of synths and saxophone grooves. It is safe to say that the live performance was not disappointing, with lead singer Isabel Muñoz-Newsome’s straight from the record sounding vocals and wild, hypnotic dancing. Some mishaps around the sound engineering did occur but you know what they say, cast the first stone if your gig is without sound issues.
Kicking off with ‘Into The Woods’ - one of the heavier tracks from the new album - the band did not waste any time in between songs for long interludes (despite ‘subtly’ inviting everyone to vote Labour at the election), which drew the audience in with no time to rest. Still, the divide between the energy on the stage and the sitting audience was just something that did not sit right with me. And I sure was sitting. Some people in the crowd, including the very rowdy woman right next to me, did not feel chained to their seat and spent the gig dancing and cheering the band but those were unique cases and most of the audience just watched the performance passively nodding to the beat (which in ‘Devastation’s’ case is not something you nod passively to). Something of a ‘transformation’ happened when the band performed what could be considered their most famous song ‘Priestess’ with parts of the audience finally standing up in their seats and some people even starting to gather at the edges of the stage. To be fair, it felt more like the beginning of a school dance, when everyone awkwardly stands in the corners and hopefully looks around for someone brave enough to break the ice. I left the gig with a good impression about how the new material sounds live - the vocals as great or perhaps even braver than their previous live performances and the band playing together smoothly but it just did not feel like the potential was fulfilled and something was missing.
However, a few days after the concert a rumour started floating around about a secret Pumarosa gig somewhere in London. It was not too difficult to guess that it was going to happen at the Windmill in Brixton, as the frontwoman Muñoz-Newsome has hung out there on many occasions and there was an upcoming event on December 7th with a ‘super special super secret surprise headliner’. The Windmill is a relatively famous spot for secret gigs of bands currently touring the UK and also known as home for many now (moderately) well-known performers. On the night of the gig, everything was as ‘Windmill-ish’ as always. Relaxed atmosphere, performers walking around and chatting with the crowd, people spending equal amounts of time by the stage and in the smoking area. And when Pumarosa came on stage at around midnight, the performance immediately radiated the intimacy that was lacking in the beautiful but unfit EartH venue. This time you could physically sense the emotions and mysticism that the band creates so easily with their songs. It was not grandiose or mind-blowing but it was personal. And I believe that the themes of transformation and rebirth that this album explores require exactly that.
After all, I am in no way advocating that only small bar gigs are how music should be performed. Big venue performances can be jaw-dropping - being in a crowd with thousands of people equally mesmerized by what is happening on the stage and dancing, sometimes even for a few hours without a break, is an incredible experience. What I mean by this comparison of two concerts is that performing music live is not only about the interaction between the performer and the audience, the sound engineering, stage design, or even the lights, it is also about the space where this exchange is taking place. And how it can affect the performance maybe even without us thinking about it. And for the love of God, think before you decide to make a gig seated.
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