If anyone can shatter the inertia of a Sunday evening, it’s the Pillow Queens. It was the last night of their 2-week tour across the UK and the band reminisced upon certain moments as they paused between songs, tuning guitars and laughing with the crowd. Christabel Smith reviews.
The Dublin based quartet were a powerful unit on stage, Cathy McGuinness’ melodious electric guitar perfectly complemented Pamela Connolly and Sarah Coracan’s distinctive vocals that spoke to me in the ''Yeah Yeah Yeahs'' when they rose into shouts at climatic parts of the set. The thumping bass and drums by Rachel Lyons worked relentlessly and filled the intimate venue with excitement that was reflected by the audience. The whole set told a story of self-love in HowDoILook, heartbreak in Gay Girls, and friendship in Brothers; to name but a few of the themes captured by the lyrics that wove into the skilfully delivered guitar riffs.
Pamela Connolly told everyone to slow dance during Harvey, naming it their “one slow song”. Under the pink and white bodega stage lights, romance ran through the crowd as if it was the last song of a school dance.
The penultimate song Rats is simultaneously an existential crisis and a song of self-acceptance as everyone chanted “I’m not a rat if you’re not a rat” with the band. It also felt to me like something you would shout as the correct response to get into an underground club into a drain level window on a back street.
''The extraordinary last night of this tour is clearly only the beginning for the amazingly talented, creative and fearless Pillow Queens''
The set ended on the anthemic Liffey, delivered like a biblical verse - “you’ll have my head on a silver plate” sounded like a severance between religion and queer identity, an identity that Pillow Queens are proud to represent. The band signed with the seminal label ‘Sub Pop’ in February this year, which has produced records with indie icons such as Fleet Foxes and The Shins. The extraordinary last night of this tour is clearly only the beginning for the amazingly talented, creative and fearless Pillow Queens.
Written by: Christabel Smith
Edited by: Amrit Virdi
Featured image and in-article images courtesy of Christabel Smith. No changes made to these images. Permission to use granted to The Mic.
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