It’s not every day that you hear a band singing the praises of Mad Max: Fury Road as a part of their stage banter, but that’s exactly what Glasgow alt rockers Dead Pony did on Monday night during their midnight set as part of that night’s British Music Embassy programming. And truth be told, that may have played some small part in ultimately selling me on the band. That, and their appreciation for a certain Canadian popstar.
“We wrote this song after seeing Mad Max, the reboot,” said singer Anna Shields at one point. “Have you seen it? It’s a great fucking film.” That sort of off the cuff film fandom, addressing the crowd as if we were all just friends, may have been what endeared the band to me, but of course there’s much more to the band than their affection for post-apocalyptic action flicks. Not the least of which is Shields’ energy onstage as a frontwoman. And offstage for that matter – she initiated several audience invasions over the course of their roughly 30 minute set.
The band also dropped a somewhat unexpected cover song into their set midway through – a cover of Nelly Furtado’s “Maneater” that fit in pretty well with the band’s M.O. of mixing chunky riffage with poppy vocals and melodies.