Piroshka @ Stereo, Glasgow (30th March 2019)

w/ Velveteen Riot, Daisy Miles

WORDS: Ray Mondo

I'm a strong believer in the idea that there isn't much better than a gig in Glasgow, especially one on a Saturday night and yet again I was not to be proven wrong. Daisy Miles was on the first support act on - a local solo musician impressively laying out intricate guitar riffs and mellow vocals and turning them into a chilled-out, almost hypnotic soundscape of detailed and dreamy arrangements - audience members can see the level of detail going into these compositions as Miles herself progressively builds up the tracks piece by piece by recording individual samples to then be looped and manipulated. Miles helps to set the initial tone of the evening relaxingly well with only her guitar, loop effects and drum pad - very much an interesting local musician to check out.

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Local band Velveteen Riot were on next - a four-piece band who are very much all about keeping things real with a DIY approach (as evidenced by the hand-made sleeves for their newly released single 'Peaches'), combining the aggressive tones of My Bloody Valentine with the shoegaze sensibilities of bands such as Slowdive, subtly topped off with the more direct abrasiveness of Sonic Youth and the like. Shimmering clean parts overlay endless reverb-soaked crunchiness, backed up by groovy drum parts and all tied together with impressive bass lines. Wrapping up the set up with a surprisingly thrashy number, it was safe to say that the band's performance went down very well with the crowd, making Velveteen Riot definitely another promising local group to keep an eye out for.

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Finally, Piroshka took the stage, with cheers coming from the crowd before even a note was strummed. For a band with such an interesting and elaborate sound, it only makes sense that the night's headliners have an equally interesting history. Comprised of former members from various well-known Britpop and indie bands, Piroshka are singer/guitarist Miki Berenyi (Lush), guitarist Moose McKillop (Moose), bassist Mick Conroy (Modern English) and drummer Justin Welch (Elastica), bringing with them some infectiously catchy and poppy melodies with an incredibly textured and multi-faceted sound. The band are joined by two additional members handling keyboards, backing vocals and extra percussion as they continue their current tour for debut album Brickbat. 

With a strong collection of songs in their set (highlights including 'This Must Be Bedlam', 'Heartbeats', 'Hated By The Powers That Be' and debut single 'Everlastingly Yours') it is unsurprising but still impressive that the band sound nothing like their previous projects, nor do they attempt to sound like them at any point. They bring only with them their admirable skills as musicians and songwriters, sticking together as a tight unit when playing live while leaving behind overdone rock supergroup cliches. Making sure that having a good time as a band on stage is their main priority - as well as this, Berenyi interacts with the crowd quite often, helping to make this a very warm and receptive atmosphere, fittingly enough for a gig on a Saturday night in Glasgow. This further adds to the feeling that Piroshka have brought their own party to town. 

Hips sway and heads nod along to Berenyi’s soothing vocals, guitarist Moose adds to the intricacy of the band's live sound with an elaborate array of effect pedals and guitar playing, Conroy's bass playing never fails to impress while Welch’s tribal drumming compliments every song - plus the addition of the two extra members proves to be just the trick in making the music sound even bigger, very much an excellent representation of the band’s recorded material while still retaining a very live feeling. When it looks like it's all over, the band re-emerge with a surprise encore of the Au Pairs song 'It's Obvious' . This could have very easily been a Piroshka song by the sounds of it, fitting in well with the rest of the set and again showing the flexibility of the band themselves and their unique sound.

I was very fortunate to have the chance to briefly catch up with Miki after the gig where I was able to ask for her thoughts on the current tour in just a few words. Very appropriately enough, a big smile followed immediately by the word "brilliant!" summed it up perfectly. Miki expressed satisfaction with this fresh new project and the fact there have been no crowd requests for the obvious hits from previous bands and such - safe to say that after this string of dates and with an excellent debut album currently out on Bella Union, people will only be calling for more Piroshka, and rightly so.

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Thanks to Ray for this review, and thanks to you for reading. Please leave a comment, give us a like/follow on our socials and get in touch if you want to contribute to RWEI. Cheers!