The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart, The Garage

The new refurbished Garage in Highbury & Islington is quite the show. Bright lights, exquisite sound, polite bar staff; a grand opening indeed. Even the security people are being nice. Bit of a twee vibe all round, really. But it’s still a big venue. At 630 capacity, for a band like the Pains Of Being Pure At Heart, this is an important gig.

Packed, it can only be a sold out show. The air is heavy and thick with sweat. The anticipation is too much. Beer is spilt, the stools at the back are kicked about in a desperate rush to get down to the front of the room. Down to the stage, high up and hidden, were no light shines. But sound. The sound of tech-ing, the sound of checking - a flash of light and we recognise the band members, doing it for themselves. Oh yeah, that’s right, they’re not a platinum selling act… yet.

A flood of purple light and smoke rise and spin as the first chords of a new piece kick in. And it’s loud. Oh, and there’s a fifth member too; hello, second guitarist. Interesting start to a show: new song, new member and the crowd don’t worry. They immediately start moving. From the back of the room, the view is of a sea of bobbing heads bathed in purple light. It can only get windier..

The set sees an insane audience reaction, and the ever excited frontman Kip is clearly touched. “This is amazing thank you so much!” Peggy (keys + vox) takes it a little step further even, with the guarantee that this “is the best show we’ve ever played. I mean it.” Fans and band are all together in this one, it seems. As The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart play a forty-five minute set compiling the majority of their album tracks, including recent singles ‘Young Adult Friction’ and ‘Everything With You’, arms are shoved up into the air; it would appear (in comparison to the last time we saw them) that POBPAH are moving fast. And moving up.

The real wow-factor is in the end. The set draws to a close with their EP track ‘The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart’ and sees the whole 630 capacity Garage chanting along and swaying to “We will never die/Oh no, we will never die!” In this instance, we feel like we’re taking part in some sort of defining moment in indie-pop history: something underlies these lyrics, and doesn’t seem too farfetched either. With an encore of ‘Hey Paul’ and the epic ‘Gentle Sons’, POPBAH are cementing themselves as a good band. No, a great band. And one which should be playing many more shows like this in the not so distant future.