The Rapture played Paradise Rock Club – 10/9
A new iteration of dance-punk icons The Rapture made their way to Boston last week, with support from U.K. rockers The Cribs.
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Rumors of The Rapture’s reunion have been greatly exaggerated.
Yes, it’s true that a version of the ‘oos dance-punk darlings hit the road this fall for their first major tour in over a decade, but if you’re hoping to catch any recognizable members beyond main man Luke Jenner…keep hoping. More eagle-eyed fans than myself saw this coming when the tour was announced some months ago, but I’ll admit to being a tad shocked to learn the details week-of. Ex-bassist Mattie Safer (who also didn’t participate in the band’s 2011 reunion) expounded on his side of things via Substack, correctly predicting that longtime members Vito Roccoforte and Gabriel Andruzzi would be sitting this one out, too, in favor of some hired members backing Jenner’s new vision.
And so it was on Thursday night at a somewhat sparsely populated Paradise: an enthused if slightly awkward Jenner on vox and guitar with a fresh-faced rhythm section digging into the Rapture catalog. Setting aside the optics for a moment, you couldn’t call the results a total disappointment from a sonic perspective. The magic of the band always hinged on the intersection of its rhythmic drive and the trebled attack of Jenner’s guitar and distinctive voice, and the touring band largely did that justice. In places, the tight power-trio arrangement heightened the punch of Echoes classics “Heaven” or “Killing,” and Jenner still brought a caustic grit to his playing that cut through whatever trepidation you might have about this whole endeavor. It was further proof he’s probably one of the more under-appreciated axemen of his era.
Still, the set could never quite find its way off the ground. There’s a reason The Rapture were a four-piece back in the day, and a canned synth line here or a missing punch of sax there was hard to miss. A couple of head-scratching setlist inclusions and exclusions didn’t help, and the brevity of it all sealed the weirdness. Encore and all, the whole affair clocked in at an hour, generously. Signature Rapture song “House of Jealous Lovers” closed things out, still sounding like the all-timer object-of-James-Murphy’s-jealous-ire that it is, but the slightly hollow feeling I couldn’t shake all night remained.
Surely there exists a long history of bandleaders resurrecting or carrying on a project alone (“If it’s me and your granny on bongos…” etc.), and contemporaries like Liars’ Angus Andrews have successfully boiled down bands into compelling solo acts with rotating membership. Here though, the vibes were off. There was a measure of gratification to be found in finally hearing some long-beloved songs live – and competently rendered by the players on hand – but there was something here that an extra hired hand on stage or a longer setlist still wouldn’t fix. Fully absent the longstanding chemistry that made the music tick in the first place, Jenner’s new Rapture lacked the spark.
For their part, tourmates The Cribs did their best to whip up the energy of the early arrivals with their adrenalized, garage-y indie rock. Brothers Gary, Ryan and Ross Jarman put on a tightly-constructed clinic of rock showmanship, their cult-favorite status emphasized by a number of fist-pumping attendees who seemed to show out just for them.
Find a gallery of the whole evening below.
