The Pierces at Koko

The Pierces
The Half Earth
Koko, 11 June 2014

I was thinking earlier that The Pierces are like the 30-something, Radio Two version of First Aid Kit, or even Haim given the more pop sound of their latest singles: beautiful sisters who obviously grew up listening to Fleetwood Mac and have those melting harmonies that only siblings have. Judging by the slightly older audience here tonight I feel I'm not that far off in my observation although The Pierces definitely have something of their own that makes them uniquely them.

They've actually been around a lot longer than those youthful acts and have certainly paid their dues. I first heard of them myself in 2007 when a friend recommended me their third album, the indie pop record Thirteen Tales Of Love & Revenge, but it was the perfect folk rock of 2011's You & I that made me and the rest of the world really sit up and take notice. It had that Fleetwood Mac pop shimmer, earthy lyrics, a beautifully updated feel of that warm, sunshine-filled California folk rock from the 70s and of course those gorgeous harmonies. They have a new album, Creation, out in September and tonight's show is pretty much a showcase for it with ten of the 17-song set given over to the forthcoming record but I have to say it sounds pretty incredible. 

Before they came on though there was a support act called The Half Earth, the moniker of Sheffield based singer-songwriter Conor Stephenson. Armed with just an echoey guitar, Stephenson has obviously been listening to a lot of Bon Iver and Jeff Buckley. It wasn't for me but who knows maybe in a year's time the music press will be all over him. Tonight though he failed to impress.

Finally, at just past 9pm we get our first glimpse of the glamorous Pierce sisters, Alison and Catherine, who look every bit as striking as their photos. Catherine, the blonde younger sister, is wearing a gorgeous white lace dress with black shorts while Alison, the dark-haired older sister, has a smart short black dress and her guitar of course. They immediately launch into a fantastic new song called Elements, which has a slow build and a steady tribal beat and ends pretty rocking. Not to overwhelm the audience with too much new material there's a couple from You & I, with Love You More sounding even darker, heavier and more fierce live and It Will Not Be Forgotten sounding like a folk rock classic, with lovely strumming guitars and passionate, heartfelt harmonies.

Playing so many new songs is always a risk with unforgiving audiences who want familiarity but tonight that's not the case at all, in fact it's exciting to hear so many new tunes and they fit next to the older material (well, the You & I songs - they don't go back any further than that tonight) with absolute ease, while the crowd responds well to them all. Some of the new songs feel a little rockier than their older material, although whether or not they will sound that way on the album remains to be heard, but I Can Feel and the incredible Monsters definitely feel like they have a little more rock muscle, while Come Alive and The Devil Is A Lonely Night ("about when you feel lonely and you call that person you know you aren't supposed to call" Catherine tells us before) are positively danceable. They haven't lost the folk rock feel of their last album completely though as there's plenty to be found in tracks like Honest Man, Flesh And Bone and the title track Creation.

It is nice to hear some of the You & I songs though, particularly as I've never seen The Pierces live before and they do sound even more dynamic in the flesh with their four-piece backing band. Catherine introduced the sweetly acoustic I Put Your Records On as her favourite song written by Alison and We Are Stars sounded enchanting with its melodic chorus sounding more mystical and bigger than ever. The two new singles, Believe In Me and particularly Kings, also sounded great, so much so you actually believed them as they crooned together "We could do what kings do", it sounded so majestic.

After ending the main set with the hit single You'll Be Mine (which not surprisingly got one of the best responses of the night) they were urged back on stage by the cheering audience for an encore. "We thought this might happen, so we prepared a little something," Catherine smiled, before the two launched into an acoustic version of the Simon & Garfunkel classic Kathy's Song. It sounded so lovely it actually made me long for an all-acoustic gig in a more intimate setting like the Union Chapel, as good as tonight was. The whole night ended with a really rousing Glorious. Which seemed to perfectly sum up the show really: just glorious.