Plini w/ Sungazer @ Electric Ballroom, London – 22/05/26

Plini bring Electric Sunrise to Camden’s Electric Ballroom

In most gigs, the overriding objective is very obvious: sing along, jump around, lose your voice by the end of the night. For Plini, this objective is less clear but definitely more rewarding. You have to stand still, pay attention and occasionally wonder whether the laws of music have been rewritten without consulting the rest of us. It almost feels like you are doing the gig wrong. So for a Friday night at London’s Electric Ballroom, Plini and their support band Sungazer created a spectacle grounded on technicality and emotional playing that does not need lyrics to shake you.

Opening the night were Sungazer, who somehow achieved the impossible: getting a room full of prog fans to move. Their set was an effortless fusion of jazz, electronic, rhythm, guitars solos, sharp basslines, progressive rock elements and saxophone that, whilst looking impossible on paper, strangely had the whole room in a chokehold. Their musicianship was extraordinary, whilst their technical skills had the audience not only admiring, but also participating. At several points, whether it was the carefully “step to the left then to the right” choreograph or a freestyle moment, the crowd found themselves dancing and bouncing. Based on reactions from the attendees, this appears to be a recurring Sungazer superpower. Through their set, the audience response seemed to grow from curious appreciation to genuine enthusiasm. By the final track, the applause was a clear acceptance that the room had become fans.

Now, for the main event. Plini Roessler-Holgate (known mononymously as Plini) has spent the last decade become one of progressive music’s most respected figures. Unlike many guitar virtuosos, he never built his reputation on speed, but on combining technical precision with melody, atmosphere and the ability to make difficult guitar-playing sound effortless. Are you impressed yet? Well, when Plini took the stage, the atmosphere in the room was something else.

Plini did not rely on theatrics or volume to bring their set to life. Instead, the whole band relied on their technical abilities to draw attention; every note was considered, every transition was intended and nothing in the set was rushed, forced or unnecessarily complicated. Ironically, Plini’s music is staggeringly complex, yet it was constructed as a carefully structured narrative rather than a collection of songs chucked onto a setlist. The set comprised of tracks from across his catalogue blending seamlessly with material from more recent releases, creating a flow that felt like an emotional journey through the eras. There were tracks such as “Ciel”, “Paper Moon”, “After Everything” and “Manala”, but also the most famous trio of “Selenium Forest”, “The Time Will Pass Away” and of course, “Electronic Sunrise”. All of these generated some of the evening’s biggest reactions, while atmospheric passages allowed the audience few precious moments to absorb what had just happened before the next wave of music arrived. Remarkably, and if that was not already obvious, Plini’s compositions are fully instrumental. So whilst most artists rely on lyrics to establish connection and participation, Plini does it through melody alone which is considerably harder. And yet, they did it!

My favourite moment was when Plini asked the key-question: “Scream for me, London!” – and London delivered. Paired with a refreshing production of minimal visual distractions and atmospheric lighting of soft colours and mood, the dynamic changes in music seemed to be complemented by the lights. The sound mixing also deserves some praise, given how crystal clear the guitars sounded, which exaggerated the spectacle. Overall, Plini delivered one of those increasingly rare evenings where technical brilliance and genuine feeling coexist. With Sungazer adding groove to the mix, the two bands proved that virtuosity can still be warm and engaging without funfair.