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Concerts, Media, Reviews

REVIEW: Purity Ring & yuniVERSE Lead Phoenix Into a Night Suspended Between Worlds (11-10-25)

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PHOENIX — Purity Ring’s fall 2025 “place of my own” tour came to The Van Buren, with yuniVERSE as the sole opener on her first tour. The beautifully historic, repurposed downtown venue set the stage for an evening the band had described in their July Substack tour announcement as “three-dimensional… expansive but intimate,” and the night delivered as promised.

yuniVERSE

The venue’s stage at first was strange to look at, one half covered in human-sized flowers and the other looking like metal stars or fans. I waited in the rapidly filling room with no idea of what to expect. When the lights faded, people abandoned the bars and the winding merch line spilling into the main room as the attention turned to a new performer on her first tour, yuniVERSE.

Singer kneels at the edge of the stage, singing into a microphone in front of towering pink paper flowers during yuniVERSE's set at The Van Buren in Phoenix, Arizona.
yuniVERSE draws closer to the crowd at The Van Buren in Phoenix, kneeling at the edge of the stage as glowing pink blossoms tower behind.
Photography: Katherine Amy Vega © All Rights Reserved

Even though she only used a portion of the stage, she invited us into the jewel-lit garden of her design, where she shared her intimate confessions through emotive electric pop. yuniVERSE weaves through each song like a layer within a dream, her hair gently blowing as she captivates the audience with her presence and movements. Her performance feels like a journey into her private world as she navigates through love and life. She continued to captivate the room completely, her sensual, charismatic movements paired with the softness of her vocals as she sang behind the mask she wore in unity with Purity Ring’s request for community care.

yuniVERSE performs at The Van Buren in Phoenix, stretched out across a stage monitor with her hair flying and giant paper flowers glowing behind her.
yuniVERSE leans into the mic while sprawled across a stage monitor, hair flying as she delivers an intense, theatrical moment in her set.
Photography:Katherine Amy Vega © All Rights Reserved

yuniVERSE said she wished this tour were longer because she wasn’t ready for it to end yet, and I can imagine I’m not the only one who felt the same. She playfully joked, “I know you’re here for Purity Ring, but together, we’ll keep it a secret that you’re actually here for me, okay?” giving a little laugh before closing out her set and leaving the stage for the headliner, Purity Ring.

Purity Ring

The room settled as the stage shifted from yuniVERSE’s dreamlike garden into the darker, more mysterious world crafted by Purity Ring. Corin Roddick stood alone at first, lighting up sections of the stage with his touch while the star-shaped fans began to spin, projecting red light that looked like sparks spraying across the dark.

Corin Roddick of Purity Ring performs in a mask behind an illuminated console as red fan-like visuals surround him on stage in Phoenix.

Purity Ring producer Corin Roddick performs behind an illuminated console amid vivid red stage visuals at The Van Buren in Phoenix. Photography: Katherine Amy Vega © All Rights Reserved

Megan James appeared a moment later, illuminated by a soft golden glow on her face in the sea of black around her.

Megan James of Purity Ring sings into a microphone while wrapped in a voluminous dark coat and white mask, scattered red LED streaks cutting across her in the otherwise dark stage at The Van Buren in Phoenix.
Purity Ring vocalist Megan James performs wrapped in a sculptural dark coat as red light streaks slice through the darkness.
Photography: Katherine Amy Vega © All Rights Reserved

With each song, the room shifted through new worlds and galaxies.

Purity Ring producer Corin Roddick silhouetted at his console as blue galaxy-like visuals and sparkling light particles swirl across the stage.
Purity Ring producer Corin Roddick is silhouetted at his console as swirling blue visuals and scattered points of light turn the stage into its own small galaxy.
Photography: Katherine Amy Vega © All Rights Reserved

During “Many Lives,” the lights flickered and danced like floating embers. “Obedear” pulled us into caverns and stars, with what looked like fireflies curling upward like smoke. “Soshy” arrived with bright, breathy vocals and pounding bass, blue lights sparkling before shifting into sharp red flashes deeper into the song.

Megan James of Purity Ring sits cross-legged onstage, masked and dressed in black, singing into a handheld mic as cool blue and white light streaks fall in the background.
Purity Ring vocalist Megan James performs seated and masked, framed by cascading blue and white light patterns that spill across the backdrop. Photography: Katherine Amy Vega © All Rights Reserved

James took a moment to thank the people in the crowd who wore the masks the band provided for everyone’s health. She appreciated the contribution to community care and valued taking care of each other. As she gushed while thanking yuniVERSE, she admitted she was rambling before continuing the set. It was clear the two acts genuinely appreciated their time together. This became even more apparent after noticing Roddick’s contributions to at least three of yuniVERSE’s tracks (“FALL 4 U,” “18 nite texts,” and “wasted”).

ALT: Megan James of Purity Ring, masked and dressed in black, leans sideways into the mic as vivid red light patterns radiate behind her, with Corin Roddick faintly visible at the console below.
Purity Ring vocalist Megan James leans into the mic in front of spinning fan visuals while Corin Roddick works at the console below, both immersed in neon red light.
Photography: Katherine Amy Vega © All Rights Reserved

Our journey resumed as holographic leaves of blue, green, and red light appeared and danced around the stage, swirling toward the crowd as the room stayed completely locked in the performance.

Purity Ring perform in silhouette as bright holographic leaf shapes burst from a giant blue seascape screen, drifting toward the crowd in the foreground.
Purity Ring perform in silhouette while shimmering leaf-shaped projections explode from a seascape backdrop and drift toward the crowd. Photography: Katherine Amy Vega © All Rights Reserved

As the surreal landscape of each song immersed everyone further into the themes, the night kept expanding into something otherworldly.

Megan James of Purity Ring sings into the microphone with her arm extended as streaks of golden light spin around her against a vivid orange backdrop.
Purity Ring vocalist Megan James sings with her arm outstretched while spinning bands of golden light radiate behind her. Photography: Katherine Amy Vega © All Rights Reserved

The final song, “Begin Again,” brought everything together. Galaxy patterns pulsed behind the band, and the twinkling vocals reached out with swirls of light bursting like magic. The fans met the band’s energy as they sang along during the quiet pauses. As we traveled back to reality with this song, and as the band thanked Phoenix to end the night, cheers of fanfare erupted and filled the room with adoration as we exited the enchanted world of Purity Ring.

Photo Galleries

Photographer: Katherine Amy Vega

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Purity Ring

yuniVERSE

Purity Ring & yuniVERSE – The Van Buren 11-10-25

Photography © Katherine Amy Vega, Kataklizmic Design
All Rights Reserved.

Concerts, Kataklizmic Design, Reviews

REVIEW: 4-24-16 CHVRCHES Cuts Its “Sermon” Early in Tempe but Saves the Faith

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TEMPE, Ariz. — CHVRCHES, Scottish synthpop / indietronica band, began their set at Marquee Theatre with the first track of their Every Open Eye album, “Never Ending Circles”. The power of their performance was a force to be reckoned with. Lauren Mayberry’s vocals were very impressive and unique, which could especially be appreciated live. The show was sold out, and the energy of the crowd was beautiful. The high-production light show behind the band was dazzling.

CHVRCHES at Marquee Theatre 4-24-16
Mobile Photo of CHVRCHES performing at Marquee Theatre

It was during only the second song, “Keep You On My Side”, that something seemed to be amiss; as Lauren’s vocals started cracking suspiciously early into the show for vocal strain to be an issue. In the midst of “Empty Threat”, Lauren stopped singing for what one might have assumed was exacerbation about an equipment failure. Her band mates continued playing a bit longer, until it was clear that she just wasn’t having it. They looked over at Lauren with clear concern and made haste to put the show on pause, explaining that she was very sick.

If a vocalist pushes to perform when they are truly too sick to be singing, they can permanently damage their voice. Any true fan, or person with a shred of compassion for that matter, should be glad that she was taking care of herself instead of running that risk. It must have sucked for the band and crew too, since they were producing a motion picture about the band at this concert; as indicated by a print-out at the box office window.

A personal opinion: The experience of the first 2 and 1/2 songs alone was enough to satisfy.

The crowd waited in anticipation for a few minutes, before CHVRCHES came back on stage. Determined to give their fans a show worth their time and effort to make it out, Lauren Mayberry and Martin Doherty traded places. Martin sang “We Sink”, which is normally sung by Lauren, and he BROUGHT IT! This was Martin’s time to shine, as he saved the night owning the performance with magical energy and ear candy vocals. Concert-goer grins were huge as they were cheering him on for taking  the role, and the roar of the crowd was deafening!

That atmosphere carried through as Martin fronted two more songs that he regularly sings – “High Enough to Carry You Over” and “Under the Tide”. We were all thrilled and united in heartfelt support, and didn’t feel shafted.

Lauren came back to sing for the last song on their set that would be cut short. She told us she would be taking measures to avoid vomiting on stage. Speaking of her performance up until then, she shamefully confessed and apologized that she didn’t have pitch due to the illness. Fans nearby could be overheard speaking in a tone of surprise about how they hadn’t noticed. She gave a heartfelt monologue expressing their gratitude to fans, and assuring that their tickets would be good when CHVRCHES comes back to Arizona in October.

CHVRCHES closed their concert with “The Mother We Share”, after which the crowd quickly funneled out. In my opinion, this wasn’t a terrible time to finish, considering it was Sunday night… Any 9-to-5ers can typically relate to this sentiment. Of course CHVRCHES was, without a doubt, worth coming out. And even though they gave us 7 songs vs. their full set, that sentiment certainly rang true to the dense crowd.

No regrets. We are grateful that CHVRCHES did everything they could to satiate hungry fans, and their live concert was incredible regardless of the length (…which really wasn’t that short). Get well soon Lauren! We appreciate your professionalism, and you don’t need to apologize. You are human – take care of yourself! Arizona will eagerly anticipate your return!

Update: The make-up show is Thursday, October 6. Your ticket from the April 24th concert will be accepted for entry.

If you would prefer to have a refund issued, contact the Marquee box office by phone at 480.829.1300 (M to F, 12p-6p) or by email at [email protected] no later than May 18 to process a refund. Have your ticket confirmation # handy.

A special thank you to Dustin Mitchell for contributing the setlist for this review.