At the weekend Ryan and I celebrated our 2 year anniversary and made our way to bonnie Scotland to see boho duo The Pierces live in Glasgow. I've been a long time fan of the girls so I felt my review of their show might be (slightly) biased so I've asked Ryan to give a separate review. His music taste ranges from hard core rap to...err harder core rap, so the melodic harmonies of The Pierces aren't exactly his 'thing' (the things you do for love ey).
Bex:
When I heard 'Secret' on the TV I fell in love, I youtube'd the song immediately and from that moment I was entranced by The Pierce sisters, their perfect harmonies and mystical music. I have always loved old school music especially Johnny Cash, Joni Mitchell and The Kinks and I found The Pierces' vintage vibes refreshing. I had been dying to see them for years and when I heard they were coming to the UK I (ever so subtly) hinted to Ryan and it worked because he bought me tickets!
The gig was held at the Oran Mor, a converted church meaning 'great melody of life'. This was the perfect location to show off the sisters sublime voices and also small and intimate so you felt they were singing just for you.
I could bang on all day about how beautiful Allison and Catherine are because they are truly breath taking. Catherine, the younger of the two, looks like she could be an Andy Warhol muse and Allison is how I imagine Aphrodite might have looked (I have a degree in ancient history & archaeology, did you really expect me not to make a reference!?) But it was how the girls interacted with the audience that really blew me away; they chit chatted with members of the crowd and have the type of sarcastic humour only appreciated by the Brits. It was a close, muggy day in Scotland but the girls embraced the sweat and only stopped a couple of times to wipe their face- They are very far from the 'untouchable celebrity' and I imagine they would just as easily join you down the pub for a pint.
The music was something else, they played old favourites 'Glorious', 'It will not be forgotten and 'You'll be mine' as well as a vast selection of songs from their soon to be released album 'Creation' and if the tasters are anything to go by it's going to be a-frickin-mazing! Simon & Garfunkel are a hard act to top but when The Pierces sang 'Kathy's Song' acapella only the hardest of hearts could fail to be moved-This was my personal highlight of a glorious evening.
Ryan:
When I first bought tickets to see the Pierces for our anniversary I genuinely thought that it would result in an hour of me folding my ears while Bex had the time of her life! So as the event drew closer, the fear began to set in. ‘I am going to hate this’. ‘I like rap and rock, what is this hippy vibe going to do for me?’ ‘Maybe I can escape to the bar area and drink until this escapade is complete?’ Every question resulted in a whole cloud of negativity and doubt. I powered through regardless however, as I knew that Bex was going to love it. The weekend was for her after all! It didn’t help though that I had to leave my food behind so we could make it for the opening of the doors! Oh what I would give to get that last piece of chicken back…
Anyway, the show went on and, I must admit, I was pleasantly surprised. When they first entered the stage I was gobsmacked. These girls were hot, maybe I could get through this after all. But it wasn’t just that they were spectacular to look at, they were bloody spectacular to listen to. I had underestimated The Pierces, in more ways than one. An awesome mixture of fast paced soft rock in some parts and deep and meaningful A capella suddenly had me singing along to songs I didn’t know the words too (I made them up, but still it counts!) The sisters were so perfectly in sync; they kind of made you listen to every single word they sang. You could tell that their music meant something to them. I even asked Bex if we could go and see them again on their next tour (this has nothing to do with seeing Catherine again, I swear…) The duo is releasing an album in September this year and I honestly cannot wait to listen to it. It just goes to show that you could be missing out on amazing music if you don’t give other genres a chance. I for one have certainly learnt my lesson.
