A review of Prides at Mad Hatters on the 1st of November 2013.
There’s a lot of buzz surrounding Prides just now. 2013 has been a massive year for them – seeing them reinvent themselves, playing their debut live show as sub headliners at Brew at the Bog, appearances at major festivals, radio appearances, and showcases in New York. That’s a list many bands could only dream of… but they’ve done it in less than a year.
They recently took to the road to play a couple of shows, including a date at Mad Hatters with support from Ross Sutherland Holland.
Ross played to a very small number of people, but for those who were there to hear it – it would be hard to deny that he’s talented. He brings a fresh, country influenced sound that we rarely hear these days on the local scene. His set included his own material, a touch of blues and a strong cover of the infamous “House of the Rising Sun”.
Despite the amount of hype surrounding them just now, Prides also took to the stage to a surprisingly sparsely filled room. This didn’t seem to faze them as they came out to play to those who have been taken in by their spell.
They played a mixture of some of the songs we’ve heard before at previous festival appearances and a couple of new ones. Opening with “Father’s Son” which has been firmly stuck in my head ever since the gig. Like many of their songs it features their throwback-to-the-80’s sound, and a touch of the modern day indie era.
Prides seem to have a knack for creating songs with big chorus’ and ridiculously catchy lyrics that you’ll always find yourself singing along to. This was apparent in other song’s in the set including “Try Again”, “Messiah” and new song “Seeds You Sow”. Their sound seems to get bigger every time I see them, and the new songs are sounding equally impressive to the one’s they’ve treated us to previously.
When he spoke to us recently, frontman Stewart Brock admitted the band have an unashamed love for pop music – something I’m already aware of having spoken to Lewis [drums] in the past about crying during the Katy Perry movie (if you haven’t seen it… it’s a real tear jerker! Don’t say I didn’t warn you!). They made an appearance of BBC Scotland not so long ago and covered her song “Roar” which received mass amounts of love on social media, and managed to work its way into their set list. Easily one of the highlights of the night! You don’t quite realise how much that song was crying out for a synth-filled, 80’s-esque cover until you’ve heard Prides cover it. It really is something truly magical.
The set wouldn’t have been complete without “Out Of The Blue” – the song they released to the internet at the start of the year, and saw them well and truly put their mark on the music scene. That song is without a doubt one of my highlights of 2013, and was the perfect ending to the evening. Once again, Prides didn’t put a foot out of place and left us all wanting more.
