Location: Klangbar Hamburg-Bergedorf
Date: 2 May 2025

‘PREYRS’? Never heard of it. But that’s no wonder. The band has only had this name since March this year. Before that, the name of the singer Amy Montgomery was used. But I also heard about her for the first time recently. The invitation from the owners of the Klangbar came at just the right time. So, I travelled to Bergedorf, a city district of Hamburg, on this mild spring evening. As I arrived a little early, I was able to listen to the band’s sound check in the courtyard. You can see the pictures of the evening on Flickr.

Shortly after half past eight, Amy Montgomery and her mates from PREYRS entered the stage. Right from the start, I was impressed by the singer’s stage presence. Interestingly, the majority of the songs that the band played that evening were previously unreleased. These are soon to be released under the new band name. For example, the two opening songs ‘Humble Eyes’ and ‘Into The Blue’. The somewhat unwieldy sounding ‘ASTIL’ was then taken from the EP of the same name. Amy sings powerfully and a little harshly. This was followed by the title track of the first EP, ‘Intangible’. It’s more melodic here, but hardly less powerful. In the calm and rhythmic ‘Tree Song’, the vocals sound a little raspy in places. The highlight of the evening, at least for me, was the Rio Reiser cover ‘Forever And You’ (‘ASTIL’). It gave me goosebumps, with Amy’s voice sounding fragile this time. The regular finale is ‘Change Change’ (‘ASTIL’). Guitar staccato and powerful vocals. The unfortunately sparse audience applauded each of the songs. So it goes without saying that PREYRS had to play an encore.

Lineup:

Amy Montgomery – Songwriter, Vocals
Michael Mormecha – Drums, Guitar
Nolan Donnelly – Guitar, Drums
Ciarán McGreevy – Bass, Guitar

Track list:

Humble Eyes
Into The Blue
ASTIL
Intangible
Nova
Tree Song (Branch Out & Nourish My Veins)
Life Is Kind
Zeros, Ones & Lies
Crucify
Forever And You
Wave Of Wisdom
Bring Ur Bruises
Constitution
Change Change

Encore

Sinnerman

Contemplative and hard sounds alternated on this evening. Alternative and often Melodic Rock. Singer Amy Montgomery shone with an extremely versatile voice and an impressive stage performance. And her fellow musicians always provided the right instrumental accompaniment. It was interesting to note that Michael Mormecha and Nolan Donnelly alternated on drums and guitar. You don’t see that every day. Bassist Ciarán McGreevy also changed instruments for a short time and picked up the guitar. Thanks to everyone involved, to the band PREYRS and to the organisers of the Klangbar. The sound and lighting were once again excellent. Not forgetting the friendly service at the bar. The only drop of bitterness was the extremely small number of music fans present. Amy and her band definitely deserved a bigger audience.