poppedmusic

Prides

London, Heaven 12th February 2015

Words: Stuart Evans

So, underneath the arches of Charing Cross station is the place where Glaswegian three piece electro indie dance smashers Prides played their biggest headline show to date. And it was a triumphant, magical set of dance-floor delerium.

Supported by the quite wonderful Remi Miles – a singer/songwiter hailing from Brighton, his four piece band were in top form from the get go. A mix of 60’s soul and modern day pop filled the already quite full venue with verve and passion. A strong vocalist, Miles sang songs of love and youth. A fine talent, definitely worth catching live.

Model Aeroplanes, Dundee’s finest export since Ricky Ross (ask the parents) delivered half an hour set of guitar led songs for people to dance too. Lead singer Rory has grown into the role and there sound has definitely developed since I last saw them. The newer songs sounded invigorated alongside the, now rather well known (with this audience anyway), tunes such as Innocent Love‘and set closer Club Low‘. Reminiscent of early Kooks, this band will have an album with us this year.

As for Prides, it’s astonishingly impressive how they have managed to create such an aura of enjoyment and passion without having actually released an album as yet. The open salvo of Cold Blooded and Seeds You Sow created a mass sing-a-long from the off , with Stewart (Keys & Vocals) and Callum (Keys, Guitar & Vocals) letting us in on their on stage banter (very funny they are too).

New song Just Say It had hints of Depeche Mode, whilst we were also treated to Strong Enough which featured the excellent guest vocalist Lauren Aquilina. I Should Know You Better sounds even more fierce live than it does on record and Out Of The Blue seemed to get the biggest reaction of the night.

However the most impressive part of the hour long set was Prides ‘Mixtape’ effort. Nine minutes of a medley of their favourite songs from last year, blending in snippets from the like of Taylor Swift, Sam Smith, The 1975, Ella Henderson and Jessie Ware it worked superbly. To the untrained ear it would have sounded like one song, and a bloody brilliant one at that.

Set closer, then, was Messiah with the crowd singing every word whilst ticker tape was fired and balloons dropped on us. This gig was a celebration of not just the now, but of good times to come. Prides have the ability to own this summer, festival organisers need to book these guys, they are very much the real deal.