Peggy Sue
Glasgow Captain's Rest (Thurs 3rd June)
After turning up at Stereo only to realise the venue had been changed at the last minute to The Captain’s Rest pub, I quickly hopped on the Subway and was surprised upon my arrival to learn I was still incredibly early…
Nestled on a bench beside the stage of the incredibly tiny venue that some may claim to be uncomfortable but I would describe as “intimate”, I was greeted by the band’s tour manager and Rosa Slade, one half of the band’s harmonic duo, who offered us glasses of wine and sat with us discussing how The Flaming Lips “don’t really do anything for me”.
The support acts came and went: Last Battle and Yahweh, both Scottish and with a penchant for weird and wonderful instruments. But the main event, of course, was still to come and roughly just before 11pm, Rosa, Katy and drummer Olly Joyce made their way onstage. The audience, who had been seated on the floor or at the bar for the first two acts, crowded around the tiny stage, despite the heat from the warm weather having travelled down to the small rectangular venue.
Soaring through some of the best tracks from debut album Fossils and Other Phantoms, from the heavy percussion of ‘Watchmen’ to the siren-esque harmonies of ‘February Snow’, the band proved themselves to have true talent as their music created an atmosphere which was at times both melancholic yet truly uplifting. But this was not just a show in promotion of their recently released debut as they also treated fans to some brand new tracks, each one as vocally powerful and instrumentally intense as the next.
As they left the stage, they left a very satisfied audience who saw them off with a warm applause before making their way upstairs to the bar just in time for last orders.
Nina Glencross
