VNV Nation at Irving Plaza

Ronan Harris

Born in Dublin, Ireland, a young Ronan Harris loved electronic and classical music, and started playing a synthesizer when he was 13 years old. At age 21, he had his first sampler and dove deeper into experimental music. In 1988, he relocated to London, England, where he worked as an IT manager and moonlighted as a journalist and webmaster for an industrial-electro music website. By 1990, he had a vision for an alternative electronic project that would become VNV Nation, for which he would be singer, songwriter and producer. The "VNV" in the name stands for "Victory Not Vengeance," in keeping with the group's motto, "One should strive to achieve, not sit in bitter regret." In 1990, he relocated to Toronto, Canada, then in 1994 moved back to Europe; he presently lives in Hamburg, Germany. Since 1995, VNV Nation has released 10 studio albums; the most recent, Noire, was released on October 12, 2018.

At Irving Plaza tonight, Ronan Harris was joined by two keyboardists, David Gerlach and Michael Wimer, and a percussionist, Chris Roberts. Harris sang and worked the audience, with his musicians, lined across the back of the stage, providing a throbbing wall of sound. Harris' approach to electropop and synthpop was a clever amalgam of industrial, gothic, and darkwave influences. The set pivoted electronic dance beats on haunting new-romantic-styled melodies, propelled by dynamic post-classical and trance arrangements. Harris crooned often, but also shouted, creating high drama by quickly spinning from melancholy to anger. Harris' passionate singing gave a tremendous amount of emotional warmth to an otherwise cold, mechanical framework. When the pulsing music grew subtle, Harris' delivery became even more intensely climactic. As such, VNV Nation live took electronic body music beyond the dance floor to a thrilling cutting edge.

Visit VNV Nation at www.vnvnation.com.