LIVE REVIEW & GALLERY: Peaness @ Voodoo Daddy's, Norwich

03/11/2022

Support from Aphra

Aphra are such an interesting sound, one that doesn't really fit any label. There were dirty, grungy basslines, the dark drone of doom unexpectedly paired with jangly up-tempo guitars, mixed with dreamy sounds and catchy lyrics. During one song they even struck me as a bit country. I suppose to pigeonhole their sound, they're alt rock with a bit of everything else thrown in for good measure. Aphra dare to push boundaries and challenge the rules of genre labels and I loved them! They were a fascinating band to watch with a charming, likeable stage presence.

'Whipping in the Wind' was a beautiful quiet tune that brought a calmness to the room before building into a cacophony of heavy bass and full band sound.

The band told the crowd 'Treading Water' was an anti-participation song, no clapping as it would put them off!

'Dad Suit' was simply a song about dad's in suits and the booming chant along 'Toast' was the perfect ending to what had been a rollercoaster ride of a set!

Peaness is one of those band names I'll never tire of. The look people give you when you say "I really like a band called Peaness, have you heard of them?" This in fact happened a few nights later at another gig I asked the question and got “the look”!

The thing that gets me with Peaness are the harmonies. When I first heard 'Same Place' a few years back I was blown away and when I heard "World Full of Worry" I was taken aback even further. I wasn't sure the girls would be able to pull them off so well live but they were flawless. The shared and harmonised vocals between Balla and Jess were stunning and when Rach and their on tour keyboardist (who's name I can't remember, sorry!) joined in on certain choruses it was one of the best sounds I've ever heard performed live. These ladies are seriously talented, they put a lot of much bigger bands to shame with their impeccable timing, and how well their voices work together.

Their set was full of macabre themes set to a backdrop of jangly guitars and sing-along choruses joined together with humour and some of the best crowd interaction I've seen. The girls bond and friendship shining through every time they spoke. They were incredibly funny at one point Jess commenting the set was half singing, half stand up that no one asked for. I'm not always a fan of lots of talking between songs but their delivery of little anecdotes was so entertaining I enjoyed it as much as the music itself.

They explained how poorly Rach had been earlier in the year with Quincy (which as the reason the Norwich show had been rescheduled from June to November) and how she'd saved someone at their Liverpool gig by identifying they were suffering from the same thing which has the potential to be life threatening.

There was the moment Rach opened a can of Coke in a totally silent room which led to the band jokingly offering the crowd the beers off their runner cos they're that rock n roll they were mostly just drinking water!

The set was high jangle, highly danceable with good energy. They took the pace down for 'Sad Song' which was written by Jess about a bad breakup Dummer Rach had gone through. It was a nice, quiet, thoughtful moment before heading back to their up-tempo vibe.

The band explained 'IRL' was a song about Balla hating herself further admitting that they'd not have a lot of their songs if they didn't feel the way they do about themselves.

I looked round and observed the crowd who quite honestly looked a little miserable until Jess encouraged a circle pit before 'Kaizen' suggesting everyone should walk towards each other politely. I don't think she was expecting what happened next, a crowd of mostly middle aged men partaking in a circle pit as raucous as any I've seen at a pop punk gig! At one point she told them to settle down although secretly I think it's the moment they'd been waiting their whole careers for! After that the crowd dynamic totally changed and everyone got far more involved and became way more boisterous!

At the end of the set the band said they didn't like doing encores calling them a "bit weird" instead just turning their backs for a few seconds. Encores used to be such a massive thing now everyone just seems to take the piss out of them and how pointless they are!

To much crowd jeering the set ended on politically infused, fuck the Tories 'Oh George' which saw the whole room singing and dancing along it was the perfect finale to what had been a flawless show. The girls are pure class, incredibly funny and totally endearing.