Short but sweet set from Midlanders
It's Halloween, and half the people around me are dressed up in all manner of outfits (amongst the usual corsetry suspects, there's the princess from Rapunzel) so it shouldn't surprise me that the keyboardist for the Priory seems to be dressed as a French sailor. The fact that he plays the instrument like a nutter just adds to the enjoyment and the fact that when their press release said they're much better live, they weren't joking. They're the sort of band that make not having a bassist an actual asset - stranger things have happened.
OK, so they may not look entirely comfortable on stage (at odds with how they are off stage), but their ever-so-slightly menacing performance matches the mood of the music. There's a bit of an eighties' thing going on, not that that's a bad thing, at least it means you can dance to it. The whole thing has a feeling of the surreal about it that continues with the third song. It's more upbeat and uplifted than before, something of a relief really - we all need a bit of light in our lives.
But, it has to be said that the Priory do dark and visceral pretty well, and 'Emily' is a good example of this. There's almost a touch of early Placebo about it, and a return to the sinister and nervy mood of the first two songs. It's such a shame that there are people talking in the audience, as the next tune is lovely and hopeful. At first it sounds like it's going to explode, instead builds and builds into a chaotic finish - there's no point trying to pigeonhole this band.
The set ends with current single, 'Freeworld', and it reinforces that they're much better live - it's a good choice as single. Electrorock it is, and by the end I even find myself singing along. All in all, it may have been a short set but, like with some other indie and rock bands around, it's sometimes much sweeter.