The Preatures @ The Hi-Fi

Riding on a wave of rave reviews for their debut album Blue Planet Eyes, The Preatures delivered a crackling performance to a sold-out crowd on Friday night. The electric Isabella Manfredi captained the tight set, leading the band through its groovy pop-rock tunes with charisma, charm and brilliant showmanship.

Hordes of youngsters lined the balcony upstairs at this all-ages gig while the bobbing heads below hosted a few grey hairs, a few hipster haircuts and a few comically oversized cowboy hats (Pharrell?). All were treated to two great supports; the soft folk-rockers Hot Spoke and the hard folk-rockers Holy Holy. Hot Spoke’s singer-songwriter Ness Muir has a great set of lungs, while Holy Holy’s wall-of-sound style blended with intelligent lyrics and technical guitar playing to get the crowd stomping.

The Preatures took to the stage with their new album’s slow burner title track ‘Blue Planet Eyes’, before jumping into their single ‘Somebody’s Talking’ with infectious energy. Slowing things down, Manfredi’s strong vocals shone through in the ballad ‘Two Tone Melody’.

Throughout the whole show, everyone’s eyes were on Manfredi. She pulled out all the stops: handstands, crawls, merciless hip thrusts, everything. Her intensity, energy and indomitable sass captivated the audience, even during the quieter songs. She’s a born performer, completely at home on the stage.

But it wasn’t just a one-woman show. Backup vocalist and guitarist Gideon Benson earned some teenage-girl screams with his singing, although it was hard to hear him. Lead guitarist Jack Moffitt was a dominant presence with his clanging riffs and solos. There was a fantastic chemistry onstage, complete with synchronised dancing and smiles galore. The offstage romance between Moffitt and Manfredi continued onstage like a musical soap opera, with mock fights, mock make-ups, and loving staring competitions. It was pretty cute.

The band finished with the rollicking landmark hit ‘Is This How You Feel?’ before returning for an encore. Punters of all ages left the venue armed with merchandise and big smiles. The Preatures are a joy to watch.