Live Review :: Vistas :: Mash House, Edinburgh - Nov 17 2017

Credit: Alice Hadden

Live 

Vistas 

Mash House, Edinburgh

November 17 2017

Words: Richard Cobb

Just a few short hours on from interviewing Edinburgh guitar pop four-piece Vistas on Friday night in a cramped dressing room, I was back in the venue, with somehow even less breathing space in the larger room next door at their sold out hometown show, the last date in their current Retrospect tour.

There was an interesting 30 second video looping behind the stage for an hour or so prior to the band's performance. The video was an engrossing mash up of Trainspotting, an iPod, Vistas themselves, something about John Lennon, a smiling post-it, the moon, Nelson Mandela, Andy Murray and someone smashing up a TV. To say it was hypnotic would be a bigger understatement than saying Morrissey’s not had the best of weeks.

Credit: Alice Hadden

Keeping up the Trainspotting vibe, the band walked on to ‘Choose Life’ which sent the already energiser bunny audience into a power surge. Sporting some boldly summery shirts for a mid-November night, the band dived head first into ‘Medicine’ a track which singer Prentice Robertson had earlier identified in our interview as one of his favourites.

By the time they got to ‘Hot Love’ the crowd were singing along to every word, with the band visibly well into this, as much as the crowd were. There seems to be a real movement in Scotland just now in the form of tropical Infused guitar pop with the likes of Vistas, Indigo Velvet and Model Aeroplanes all being one grass skirt and a ukulele away from a Lilt advert. No idea where this has originated from though as Scotland’s absolutely Baltic and no one even really drinks Lilt anymore. Regardless though, the sound works well for them, it’s a lot of fun and there’s no denying with a sold out crowd that know all the words, there’s evidently a market for it.

Credit: Gregor Atlantic

Prior to giving new single ‘Retrospect’ an airing, Prentice acknowledged the crowd and his bands achievements with the humble words, “It’s been a bit of a year for us.” When a band dip a toe in the fountain of success, like Vistas have this year, it’s easy for them to become arseholes, but no one can accuse this band of anything remotely close to that. They’ve still got their feet firmly on the ground and they’re taking the success in their stride whilst clearly enjoying every minute of it.

Ending with a well-deserved (for both the band and the crowd) encore of the first single ‘Sign Language’ everyone - including the speakers at the front of the stage - was swaying from side to side, like palm trees in a Scottish climate.
Throughout the 45-minute set, there was no energy let-up from the band or the crowd, and it was easy to see why there’s such a close bond between the band and their fans. If they can carry that energy to other cities throughout the UK, 2018 could be a triumphant one for them.