This review has been published on Cool Try.

If you do read it here, please also check it out there as there are some photos of the gig and you’d be supporting Cool Try.

In the interest of journalistic integrity and honesty, I need to state that I played a very brief set during this gig. Unfortunately knowing this ruins a joke I had in mind, but if I didn’t advise of this the gig review would be dishonest. I’d rather you know when I have a personal involvement in something I’m reviewing.

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Opening the night was Powder L. Her set was comprised of a mix of varying electronic sounds that pushed more for atmosphere than they did songs. It was an interesting and solid set. However, it lacked presence.

Following Powder L was Jasmine Guffond. Her set also focused more on atmosphere than songs. She leaned a little more into the intense and expansive than Powder L. Jasmine Gufford’s set was also interesting and enjoyable, but it too lacked presence.

V was next. Her set seemed influenced by electro-industrial and other similar electronic genres. Some of the songs were good. Some of the songs were okay. It was easy to hear what V was doing. Her set also had a fair bit of energy. There was more presence than the prior artists. However, V’s set was also lacking, albeit in a more indistinct way.

Evil Heat were intense from the get-go. They had a massive, almost oppressive electronic sound. There was little relenting in their set. Whilst it bordered on overbearing at times, the duo didn’t bore.

Den played a set that was cold and dark. At times it became difficult to hear what they were doing. Adding to this, the vocals were inconsistent enough to be distracting. Still, they got through their set easily. Overall they were tight and somewhat-entertaining.

Just after Primitive Calculators set up they introduced some guy by the name of NAME. NAME wasted between five and six minutes of everyone’s time. He introduced himself as “Sufficiently Advanced Numerical Processors” and proceeded to make a number of mistakes. His music began “tense”, descended into noise, then became more ambient. He got off the stage almost as quickly as he started, the bastard. He could have been better. For what it’s worth, some people thought his set was good.

Then Primitive Calculators began.
If you weren’t there, then you really missed out.

Despite some minor flaws, most of the artists of the night were (and are) worth seeing. Primitive Calculators blew them all out of the water.

Of course you expect the headliner to be good, but Primitive Calculators were in an entirely different league. They were tighter and clearer than everyone else by a significant margin. Their vocals shone, the instrumentation was full and expansive and their energy was unparalleled. If there were any mistakes, then they were not noticeable.

Whilst least one song came from prior releases most of what was played was from ON DRUGS. The set had a smooth flow. Each song had an appropriate space to fill and each song did so without losing its identity.

Primitive Calculators managed to put so many bands out there to shame with a set that was over far too quickly. They played songs that translated live far better than most bands can hope for and they did so without anything coming off as forced.

If Primitive Calculators are performing near you, then I strongly recommend you go see them. Even if you don’t like their music, they’re worth seeing for how well they perform.