WORDS AND IMAGES BY DESH KAPUR
“They Are An Amazing Hybrid Of Sparkling Guitar, Synth Driven Pop”
It was to one of my favourite venues tonight, the O2 Victoria Warehouse, for super hyped Manchester quartet Pale Waves, they released their second long player “Who Am I?” on Dirty Hit records on 12th February 2021, but due to the C word this is the first real chance to tour in support of the release, the O2 Victoria Warehouse was packed in anticipation
I’m not sure I have ever seen so much black clothing, dramatic makeup, dyed black hair, lace and Dr Martens (knee length of course) gathered in one place at one time. The crowd looked amazing.
Pale Waves are Heather Baron-Gracie (vocals/guitarist) Ciara Doran (drummer), Hugo Silvani (guitarist) and Charlie Wood (bassist)
Due to getting completely getting lost on the way there, I was extremely disappointed to miss the supports bands, but I got to the venue with 15 minutes to spare for the main event, Pale Waves. I caught my breath, set up my cameras, grabbed a beer and I was ready.
All of a sudden, the house music stopped, the crowd roared and on walked tonight’s heroes. They launched into ‘Change’, followed by ‘TV Romance” and the crowd’s roar went up another notch, and they moved straight into breakthrough track “Eighteen”.
Pale Waves looked brilliant. They have their own punk/goth thing going on; lead singer Heather Baron-Gracie at the front with bleach blond hair and studded dog collar.
They are an amazing hybrid of sparkling guitar, synth driven pop which gives more than a nod to 80’s artists such as Prince, Madonna and maybe a little of The Bangles thrown in for good measure. Add to this mix, lead singer Heather Baron-Gracie’s voice, that is a sweet melting mixture of Cranberries singer Dolores O’Riordan and Taylor Swift (yes Taylor Swift!), at least that’s how they sound to me, what does this mean?? Well, it means that Pale Waves serve up a shimming blend of Emo Pop and to be quite frank, it’s very, very good.
Tonight, they played pretty much all the tracks off “Who Am I”, some big hitters from “My Mind Makes Noises” and the whole venue is a sea of dancing bodies, people on shoulders and a cacophony of voices.
The band sounded amazing tonight. Bigger, fuller, more confident and very much at home on the big stage, playing what was apparently their biggest show to date.
Pale Waves are young and are growing into a band that has the potential to kick some very big goals here, and on the other side of the pond. When you watch them play live you can see that in bucket loads. They write songs with depth and maturity, they cover subjects such as self-reflection, personal awakenings, the struggles of relationships, sexuality, depression and learning to becoming confident in your own skin.
Tonight was yet again proof that Pale Waves can back up what they put on record live. Now that the music industry is slowly moving back into top gear, Pale Waves will be right there at the front of the pack, ready to step up to the next level.
SET LIST
1/ CHANGE
2/ TV ROMANCE
3/ 18
4/ TOMORROW
5/ FALL TO PIECES
6/ ONE MORE TIME
7/ WISH YOU WERE HERE
8/ KISS
9/ ODD ONE OUT
10/ JEALOUSY
11/ RED
12/ MY OBSESSION
13/ THE TIDE
14/ EASY
15/ SHE’S MY RELIGION
16/ THRE’S A HONEY
FOLLOW PALE WAVES
My life is a soundtrack, i track my life through music, photography is my passion, my escape, my expression. Without both i have pieces missing, thankfully i’m blessed and get to combine both.
Born in Manchester, lived in Australia for 22 years where i was heavily involved in the Australian Music Industry, firstly in bands (Singer) and then managing bands (all original), I moved back to the UK, Wales specifically 10 years ago
