PVRIS AND ROYAL & THE SERPENT AT WEBSTER HALL IN NEW YORK CITY
“BANDS BANDS BANDS!” the crowd shouted as the lights at Webster Hall went out. It almost didn’t feel real being back. Pvris would be headlining the night with support from Royal and the Serpent. This lineup was almost too good to be true. Taking the stage first was LA based artist Royal and the Serpent. I started listening to Royal at the start of 2020 and was immediately hooked onto her music. She’s definitely an artist to look out for if you’ve never taken a listen. Royal opened her set with “i can’t get high”, a single released earlier this year and the second track to her latest EP Searching for Nirvana. This was a great opening song to get the crowd moving and jamming along. For this tour, Royal brought out the band Beauty School Dropout to accompany her on stage. Throughout the set, Royal and BSD were constantly moving, and keeping the crowd captivated. She performed other tracks such as “Choke”, “phuck u”, and “girls”. Towards the middle of the set an unreleased song titled “starphucker” was played and she even premiered another new song titled “Chips”, featuring American Teeth (who came out to join her on stage). A highlight of Royal and the Serpent’s set for me was definitely her performance of “Eat Spit” which had her and the crowd wildly screaming the iconic lyrics,
“Bad bitch, queen shit, icon. Eat spit, get dicked with the lights on!”
She ended her set with her Tik Tok viral single “Overwhelmed”, explaining to the crowd prior to the start that she was anxious and had already cried twice that day. It’s nice to see an artist who has been as open about her mental health as Royal is, and to be able to relate to that feeling of being anxious and overwhelmed, especially at a time like this. If you’re catching a date on this tour please make sure you are there early to catch Royal and the Serpent’s set - you’ll fall in love with her and her music.
Pvris took the stage after Royal and the Serpent for their headlining set. They opened with their latest single, “Monster” and immediately had the crowd singing along. Lynn Gunn has an incredible charm on stage when she performs. Her vocals were dead on pitch wise and you can tell she’s spent a lot of time perfecting her craft. Fans were treated to tracks such as “Gimme a Minute”, “Deadweight”, and “Use Me” from the 2020 album Use Me. Pvris gave the crowd some throwbacks as well, playing old favorites such as “St. Patrick” and “You and I”. At one point a small pit had even opened up on the floor. Throughout the set, it felt as if the energy in the band and crowd increased with each song. I stood on the balcony to watch their set and got such a warm, fuzzy feeling when I looked down to see their fans screaming and dancing along to the songs they were performing. For a little while, everything almost felt normal. Pvris ended their set with “Hallucinations” and when they left the stage, the crowd seemed to delay leaving. Nobody wanted the night to end.
There are many dates left on this tour and I highly recommend heading out to one if you feel comfortable. This is a killer lineup with two incredibly talented acts. It’ll be a show to remember for sure!
Nicole DiBenedetto is a photographer based out of New Jersey. She likes making new friends and meeting new people so catch her out in the pit and say hi!