Peace, QM Union, Glasgow
Lisa-Marie Ferla
Three stars
For an awkward 30 seconds, I thought that Peace had arrived on stage and emptied the room.
Instead, it was the vacuum effect of several hundred freshers rushing the stage to get close to the band: four unassuming-looking lads in their early 20s from the West Midlands, performing occasionally anthemic, psychedelic guitar-pop.
Peace write music for festivals, and it shows: the combination of their peace sign backdrop (yes, we saw what you did there) and the happy hippy lyrics of set opener O You was that of some big 1970s love-fest where everybody’s hands are in the air and it’s hard to hear anything above the bass. Follow-up Wraith had more of a blissed-out vibe: guitars a little more angular, drums a little more desperate.
Follow Baby had the riff and the chorus of a Vodafone advert - all youthful exuberance, mobile phones in the air and FOMO (that’s fear of missing out for my fellow 30-somethings); or, at least, that’s how it looked from the back. Money and I’m a Girl continued the big-sounding festival vibe, with the crowd contributing “here we go” chants any chance they could.
The acoustic-driven Perfect Skin and Someday mellowed the room a little. Float Forever featured the best, albeit possibly mis-heard, lyric of the night: “if you’re not happy wearing denim you’re a devil in disguise”.
Ignoring the protracted rave-y, strobe-y jam session towards the end of the set - because who has the stomach for that on a Saturday night - the overall effect was that of Oasis with additional psychedelic guitars and the lyrics of a six-year-old. Which, considering the music I listened to as a fresher, is pretty comforting.
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