published: 6 /
9 /
2010
Anthony Strutt watches much acclaimed New York indie pop act the Pains of Being Pure at Heart play a short, but furious set at Heaven in London
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Heaven is a very famous venue and was both a gay disco and indie venue in the 1980s. I have never been inside until now and am surprised at how large it is. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, however, have filled the room and it is completely packed. The band have not been to London since last November and they also play the next evening at the Buffalo Bar under the name of George Washington's Penis.
Tonight's set is way too fast and too soon it is over. They come on at the very un-rock and roll time of just 9 p.m. and by 9.50 p.m and even with a ten minute encore it is all over.
All the right songs are played tonight including the opener of ‘This Love is Fucking Right’, while ‘103’ sounds like a buzzsaw cutting through thick trees. ‘Young Adult Friction’ makes us all swoon and they even throw in a new song, which is the fourth number played.
The fifth song is actually ‘A Teenager in Love’, but sounds like David Bowie's ‘Modern Love’. ‘Come Saturday’, even though its only Thursday, goes down well with the crowd. Their song, ‘Higher Than the Stars’, which is a total rip of the Cure's ‘Just Like Heaven’, follows next.
They tell us that they are now recording their new album, which they travel to do after the Buffalo Bar gig up in Scotland, before playing ‘Somewhere’ and another new number. They then knock out quickly,’ Stay Alive’, ‘Everything with You’ and their theme tune, ‘The Pains of Being Pure at Heart’, which closes the main set.
They soon return and deliver two last songs which they announce as ‘Just Like Heaven’ and ‘Even Better Than the Real Thing’ before leaving us happy and pleased and able to get home in time for cocoa.
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