Miranda Whist
Miranda WhistYou know you’re onto something when people decide to dress up as you for your Halloween concert, which was exactly the case with John O’Regan’s androgynous, glam rock alter ego Diamond Rings at his show on Sunday.
Taking the stage in a relatively subdued matching vintage Seattle Supersonics jersey and hat and Nintendo power glove (he’s known to wear zebra-print tights and rainbow eye-makeup), Diamond Rings played an enthusiastic and upbeat set from his recently released debut full-length Special Affections. He easily won over the crowd with his danceable and catchy melodies, and managed to get the majority of the venue moving even after a long weekend of Halloween festivities. Almost better than his dance moves was his charming and hilarious banter, with topics including Seal’s contribution to the Batman Forever soundtrack and the relatively low stakes of messing up a song he hadn’t played in a while.
At the keyboard, O’Regan is a quirky performer, but give him a guitar and he becomes a force to be reckoned with. It’s not a matter of technical skill so much as how he sells every note he plays with fervour. His music often gets the synth-pop label, but make no mistake—live, songs like “Wait and See” and “Something Else” rock first and foremost.
After a quick costume contest before the encore (congratulations to the man dressed as a Mondrian painting), Diamond Rings returned to play his first single, “All Yr Songs,” with tourmates PS I Love You. No disrespect to the men of PS I Love You, but it just didn’t feel right to replace the programmed backing beats with live musicians, and Diamond Rings lost something inherently “Diamond Rings” as a result. Whether that’s a sign O’Regan has painted himself into too small a corner for future growth remains to be seen, but judging from the success of last night’s show, there’s no reason to worry just yet.
