Glasgow band Prides ended their current tour at Aberdeen’s Lemon Tree with an energetic set that was well received by a young and enthusiastic audience.
After enjoyable support slots from local bands The Cliftons and Another – a group of sixth-year pupils from Oldmachar Academy making their Lemon Tree debut – Prides took to the stage and launched into their current single Away With The Night.
The band are classed as an indie/synthpop duo, and I would describe them as a cross between The 1975 and Years And Years with their up-tempo mix of keyboards, guitars and vocals.
Appearing as a five-piece on Saturday, they performed a string of songs from their debut album The Way Back Up as well as some new tracks which will appear on their forthcoming second album, which they are about to start recording.
We were told we were Aberdonian guinea pigs for the evening as they were trying out their new material, most of which went down well – as did the impromptu singing lessons we were given to help us join in with the new tracks.
Lead singer Stewart Brock looked like he was having a ball, interacting with the audience and leaping around the stage with a childlike enthusiasm. He seemed determined to raise everyone to the same high as he was enjoying, but only partially succeeded in doing so, despite his profanity-strewn pleas to get the tour-ending celebrations started.
The band have enjoyed a decent level of success and even performed at the closing ceremony of the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. But they still seemed delighted at the good response they received when Brock asked if anyone in the audience had bought their debut album, before launching into its title track.
The band’s tour has seen them play to audiences in Paris, Berlin, Amsterdam, London and Edinburgh, and their Aberdeen set finished with the crowd pleaser Messiah, which saw phones, lighters and Blue WKDs raised in the air in salute.
The Lemon Tree wasn’t packed out, but there were plenty of happy Prides fans queuing up after the concert to meet the band as they assembled at the “merch” stand to pose for selfies and sell some T-shirts and CDs.
Maybe it’s an age thing, but I was left a little empty by what I heard. Sure, there were some catchy tunes, but, like a lot of current music, each song sounded much like the next.
I was clearly in the minority on Saturday night however, and the Prides fans left the Lemon Tree very happy with what they had seen and heard.
