We were @ La Cave du Bleu Lezard in Lausanne last night to see one of the most promising rising young bands from the british indie scene: Peace. The band comes from Birmingham with a big NME stamp: best live band of the UK. Goes without saying that we were looking forward to it with well deserved curiosity. We discovered that Peace’s songs sound better live than on their debut record “In Love” released in March, this is a privilege that few bands can enjoy.
After rocking Zurich on Friday the band hit the stage at around 9.30 when the intimate venue is packed and the crowd is anxious to see them. They kicked off the gig with the album 1st track “Higher than the Sun” that borrows the title from a Primal Scream song and sets the tone for the rest of the setlist: for the next hour it will be this: melodic indie rock filled with mushrooms. It’s almost impossible to categorize Peace and put them in one bucket saying: “they sound like xyz”, they sound like… Peace and nobody else. This is another privilege reserved to very few  bands. Yes, ok across their first album we can find references to multiple past bands and songs, but the mix its so nicely done lyrically and musically speaking that it makes it unique.
The 12 strings Les Paul of Harry plays the chords of “Follow Baby” and we are not in Lausanne anymore. The band brought us to another place, somewhere in time that smells like the 90s, looks like the 80s and tastes like the psycho 70s. “Lovesick”, is in our humble opinion the best song of the sets, with its simple lyrics of young rebellion its a hymne to love and youth, cheers to that.
“Scumbag” follows with a more grungy guitar vs. the album and manages to conquer even the most skeptical of the people present at La Cave. “Toxic” as the title suggests its intoxicating, its one of those songs that you would hope that would go on forever. “Float Forever” it’s a nice slow break in the set and the electric loop of “Delicious” brings as back to dancing and jumping.”Wraith” really made us shiver, what an amazing f..ing song in its live version.
“1998” and “California Daze” from their first EP “Delicious” get us to the closure that comes after with a never ending psychedelic instrumental part in “Bloodshake” which perfectly ends the concert.

Now, 95% of the concerts finish when the bands comes off the stage, but not this time as the band stayed in the bar enjoying a few drinks with the crowd celebrating their tour manager’s birthday. The rest, is (fuzzy) history. Peace are now off conquering Paris, the US and almost every european festival this coming summer.
They might not put Lausanne among the milestones of their young career as getting on the cover of the NME or playing Glasto but the delivered a great show, one of the best we have recently seen on the shores of the Leman lake.

Music is easy when your band is gifted with a hell of a voice like Harry’s and a drummer that doesn’t skips a bit setting the rhythm for the rest of the band. Their songs sound much better live  because it’s this way that they were thought since the beginning. Their unique indippy (indie+hippy) style with a pinch of naive vision of the world will bring them far and in the meanwhile it makes you fall in love with life. What else could you ask from a concert on a Saturday night?

See you soon guys. We will wait here, bloody clapping.
Peace.

Setlist:

1. Higher than the Sun
2. Follow Baby
3. Lovesick
4. Scumbag
5. Toxic
6. Float Forever
7. Delicious
8. Wraith
9. 1998
10. California Daze
11. Bloodshake