PURITY RING in Riverside

About PURITY RING

Purity Ring is the electronic project of Megan James and Corin Roddick, formed in 2010 in Montreal. They built a reputation with their debut album Shrines, which paired ethereal, processed vocals with intricate synth arrangements that felt both delicate and unsettling. James's voice—often heavily layered and treated—became the project's signature, floating over hypnotic beats and shimmering production that drew comparisons to Grimes and FKA twigs. Their follow-up Another Eternity pushed toward pop accessibility while keeping the experimental edge intact. Purity Ring doesn't really fit neatly anywhere, which is kind of the point. Their sound sits in the space between ambient music and pop structure, where nothing feels quite warm but nothing's cold either. It's the kind of music that sounds better the more you pay attention.

Their shows are precise and hypnotic rather than explosive. The crowd stands relatively still, almost meditative, watching dense visual projections while James delivers those processed vocals with palpable control. It's less about collective euphoria and more about sustained atmosphere. People seem transfixed.

Known for Fineshrine, Obedience, Crawl Spaces, Begin Again, Atoll

Live Music in Riverside

Riverside's electronic music scene exists mostly in the shadow of LA, but it's got a real appetite for synth and experimental production. The city's venue culture tends toward hip-hop and regional acts, so an artist like Purity Ring—all crystalline production and icy vocals—reads as a deliberate statement, not just another tour date.

Riverside road trip to see PURITY RING?

Stay in the Magnolia Center area near downtown Riverside, where restored historic buildings sit alongside new boutique hotels and wine bars—it's the only neighborhood that actually feels like somewhere worth spending an evening. Before the show, dinner at Duane's, a reliable California steakhouse with real cocktails and actual craft to the food. Spend your afternoon at the Riverside Metropolitan Museum or walking through the Mission Inn's sprawling Mission Revival campus—it's genuinely stunning architecture, the kind of thing that reminds you why people actually settled this part of California.