Peace: The Sugarmill, Stoke-on-Trent – 27/05/2014

After an absolutely mammoth 2013, PEACE are back on the road again. Many bands may have time off after a debut album release, two headlining tours and a support slot on the NME Awards Tour, as well as appearances at various music festivals – but not Peace. Two new tracks have already surfaced online: ‘Money’ and ‘World Pleasure’ – both of which made an appearance at tonight’s show. There’s definitely a new feel to both of these songs, with the bass having a slightly bigger part to play than previous tracks.

After American support act Drowners, the British boys come on to a spooky version of ‘Rock Your Body’ by Justin Timberlake. Their mix really worked; yet their short set only offered a taster to the band.

They inevitably kick off with absolute smasher ‘Follow Baby’. It sounds just as crisp as the recording does, but with the added atmosphere that you can only experience at a live performance. The audience are singing it full blast straight back at them. New track ‘Money’ is up afterwards, which fits right in with the rest of their repertoire. With music an extrovert as Peaces’; it shouldn’t be a surprise to see Harry’s new hair – bright neon orange.

‘Higher Than The Sun’ offered fans in the intimate venue a chance to jump as high as they possibly can during the raucous chorus. After this track, Harry exclaims “Well it’s a very happy Tuesday, isn’t it!” ‘California Daze’ temporarily slows the mood down and instantly chills everyone out.

Another new track ‘Lost In You’ is next on the list, and has definitely got a much funkier vibe – something typical of the new batch of tracks. ‘Toxic’ perks everyone back up and would definitely be a great summer tune. Peace definitely give off this feeling of knowing they’re absolutely adored, and it’s almost as if they’re just performing and they’re allowing us to witness their absolute brilliance.

‘Waste Of Paint’ has just got the most brilliant riff, and has everyone screaming the words back at the band. They then have a little jam before they announce ‘Lovesick’, and ‘Float Forever’ has the audience throwing their arms around each other and swaying in unison.

Harry then goes on to say: “I heard that Stoke was the birthplace of Slash… Is that true? I was very very turned on by that, very turned on.” The last new track of the night: ‘World Pleasure’, which has definitely got more of this “funky” vibe going on, and has more of a syncopated rhythm. Similarities could be made between this track and ‘1998 (Delicious)’ as they both are almost broken into sections.

It’s straight into fan favourite ‘Wraith’ after this, one of the main tracks from “In Love” that everyone knows and loves.

We then come to the point of the evening where the last song must be played, with Harry announcing that “…all good things must come to an end”, and asks for requests. They then go straight into ‘Bloodshake’ – and I can’t think of a better song for them to have finished on. The audience immediately start jumping and the room is absolutely buzzing with energy – it can’t be helped but to go absolutely mad at this song.

All in all, an absolutely buzzing night with a quality set list. It seems 2013 may have been the year Peace launched themselves on to the scene, whilst 2014 will be the year they cement themselves as a bands thats here to say. Thank you Peace!