PVRIS fans were excited on Wednesday, June 12th when frontwoman and now-solo band member Lynn Gunn came to the Egyptian Room. PVRIS had two openers: solo artist Sizzy Rocket and English rock band Pale Waves. The audience was dressed mostly in black in anticipation of the pop-rock show ahead.
Sizzy Rocket took the stage at 7:00 sharp with a voiceover and the singer took the stage to open with her song “That Bitch.” She was dressed in a skimpy black outfit and her vibes absolutely fit those of her songs, which were mostly very sexual in nature. It did seem that not many in the audience knew her music going on, but she had amazing stage presence and certainly made some new fans by the end of her set. Sizzy performed entirely solo with only prerecorded backing music, and for the last few songs she played a keytar. She came out to meet fans at her merch table after her set and was an absolute sweetheart. She also announced herself to be “gay as fuck,” a theme that would return throughout the night.
Pale Waves came out shortly afterwards, introducing themselves as being from Manchester, England. There were a handful of fans wearing Pale Waves shirts, showing that the band did already have a bit of a following amongst the Indianapolis crowd. The energy was higher for their set as they played songs reminiscent of 1990s British rock bands like The Cranberries. Their music varied from a slower, gentler sound to much harder songs. They played a new song called “Perfume,” which the crowd loved. They even dedicated one song “for all the lesbians in the crowd,” which got a huge roar of applause from an audience made up mostly of women.
Finally, PVRIS frontwoman Lynn Gunn took the stage. She opened with the song “Good Enemy” and a stage lit with flashing red lights. From the very first song, she had incredibly high energy, and asked the crowd to put their hands in the air. For a solo artist without a full band, Gunn was incredibly impressive in how hard she rocked.
Her voice sounded great, the mixing making the sound quality in the Egyptian Room excellent. Immediately, it was evident that most of the people in the room knew the lyrics to the PVRIS songs, singing loudly along when Gunn prompted them during the second song, “ANIMAL.”
PVRIS had great stage presence and a cool (yet simple) set design, lighting up blue for the song “Dead Weight” which sent the crowd going wild. For the fourth song, she played “Burn the Witch,” a much heavier song with metal vibes. After, she engaged the crowd, stating that they were, “10 out of 10… dare I say 11?” She also made a joke, referencing “updog” and making the audience laugh before launching into a fan favorite song about New Orleans, “Nola 1.”
It was an exciting show for everyone. She played several more crowd pleasers, including “Mirrors” and encore song “My House.” During “Same Soul,” Gunn played a sick bass solo that the fans loved.
Overall, PVRIS performed super well, putting on a great show for all. It was such a good show that when I looked behind me, I found that even the people working the soundboard were dancing and singing along.