Pale Waves / Rock City / Nottingham
Pale Waves are a band that have, recently set the indie-rock genre on fire. Having signed with independent record label Dirty Hit, alongside bands such as Wolf Alice and The 1975, they’ve gone on to win the Prospect Music Award and become big favourites among indie fans across the county.
The band hit town with their sophomore album tour to promote “Who Am I?” and the large (& young), close to capacity crowd suddenly explode into life as the band hit the stage and dive right into the first track Change, the lead single from their latest album. The vocals were great and the musical chemistry was excellent. Television Romance has the crowd up and bouncing. A scream from singer Heather of “how you fucking feeling?” results in the ubiquitous screams and cries in return as they launch into Eighteen, from their 2018 debut album, “My Mind Makes Noises”.
We then headed into Tomorrow as Baron-Gracie declared that “this song was written for you and will always be for you”. A real showcase of what pale Waves can do, with strong vocals and an effortless sound throughout.
Baron-Gracie asks the large crowd “Do you guys wanna fall to pieces?” which, unsurprisingly welcomed the opening riffs of Fall To Pieces, and the crowd obediently cried out their approval, and clearly a favourite with them it gets a great reception. At the start of One More Time, we have a wonderful acapella vocal performance that has the capacity crowd enthusiastically shouting the lyrics back to her the response from the audience was amazing and really lifted the atmosphere.
Next up we had Wish U Were Here before we heading into Kiss which lit the crowd up creating a wonderful atmosphere, and we were even treated to (I have to say) and unexpected mosh. The tempo changes as Heather gets out her acoustic guitar to perform Odd Ones Out which was brilliant, with the crowd singing along getting their mobile phone torches in the air.
We had a real nice surprise next as the band played a new track called Jealousy, which we’re informed is “for the jealous type of people”, which kinda didn’t need saying if I’m honest lol. The track has a rockier feel to it and the verse sections were brilliant and the live atmosphere was electric, with the crowd really taking to the new sound.
I was starting to realise there was a trend of cliché’s now as the next track Red is introduced with “Who’s favourite colour is red?”, again greeted by whopps, cheers and applause from the predominatly young crowdAgain, the track was delivered flawlessly with great vocals, great energy and great chemistry
We then had, what I think was the bands best performance of the night, with some outstanding vocals as we were entertained by My Obsession, which illicited the well deserved crowd response to this indie-pop anthem. Followed by The Tide the band’s chemistry and performance continued on a new higher level, and there’s a wonderful section at the end which focused on drummer Ciara Doran
As we get towards the end of the set we have a song about falling in love in Easy, and that was the absolutely highlight of the night – the performance was amazing.
And with that the band leaves the stage….
As you’d expect with such an engaged crowd, the shouts for an encoure were enthusiastic to say the least and we were treated to two more tracks in She’s My Religion a love song celebrating the LGBTQ+ community. The crowd respond with their rainbow flags and Baron-Gracie takes one from a fan and wears it draped round her shoulders for the rest of the performance to the delight of the crowd.
Finally, we have There’s A Honey, and the crowd’s energy levels reach a peak as the end of the show was upon us.
A funny one this. I’d not seen Pale Waves before, and talking to some fans they were soe xcited as they have a reputation for amazing live performances. I don’t quite know what was up tonight. Musically, Pale Waves were fantastic, and played through the material brilliantly, but it was a performance that for me, lacked life. The stage was bare, and the band members didn’t move round that much. It felt quite static and bland if I’m honest. I’ve certainly been to see much more energetic bands. I’m not a fan either of the cliched intro, the kind of “This song is all about love, and it’s called LOVE” kinda thing. For me there was too much of this tonight, and it reminded me of 2000 Kerrang TV emo punk stuff like Sum 41 and Avil Lavigne. But the crowd certainly loved it, and that’s what matters I guess. Great music, but for me a less than perfect performance on the whole.
Set List
Change
Television Romance
Eighteen
Tomorrow
Fall To Pieces
One More Time
Wish U Were Here
Kiss
Odd Ones Out
Jealousy
Red
My Obsession
The Tide
Noises
Easy
Encore
She’s My Religion
There’s A Honey
In support, first up we had a short six track set from Alternate Indy band Bitters, who released their debut single Sick in 2021. A solid opening to the night, and a great sound.
Set List
Sick
Suicide Butterflies
Cool
Cynical
Loving Me
Stole Your Car
The main support was Hot Milk who are an emo power-pop band from Manchester. Front pair Jim and Han met in a bar in the Northern Quarter in 2016, became fast friends and have lived together ever since. Writing songs about real life and things such as fun, family and kindness Hot Milk create a warm atmosphere to which everyone is invited.
You would be mistaken for thinking, as they hit the stage, that they were the headliners for the night as they bound out onto the stage full of power and energy, bounding round the stage, climbing onto the steps and leaning into the crowd. The band clearly have a chemistry and it really makes a great live performance. It felt a little like they were still finding their feet and some of the vocals and music could have been better, but the energy of the performance made up for this, and they felt like a band have a brilliant future ahead of them. Definitely a band I’d love to see again.
Set List
Split Personality
I Just Wanna Know What Happens When I’m Dead
Wide Awake
I Think I Hate Myself
Glass Spiders
Bad Influence
Candy Coated Lies
Awful Ever After
