Pale Waves are an English indie rock outfit from Manchester, formed in 2014. They were originally known as Creek when lead singer and guitarist Heather Baron-Gracie met drummer Ciara Doran while attending university in Manchester. The band acquired guitarist Hugo Silvani and bassist Charlie Wood along the way, completing the line up as we know it today. The band released their second album `Who am I?` Iast year, the follow up to their debut `My Mind Makes Noises` and they assure us that a third album will be along later this year as they head out on a fourteen date trek around the UK and Ireland in support of their last album. The band arrived in Birmingham on their four date of the tour and also St Valentine`s Day.
There`s little fuss as this quartet arrive on stage and slam straight into `Change` a number from their latest album and a sort of heartbreak love song which has this intensive audience singing and waving along. The band quickly follow this with `Television Romance a kind of a rejection song of sorts which really highlights the delightful slight inflection in Heather`s voice and `Eighteen` which opens with an electronic synth like texture and evolves with a quite pounding thumping beat.
`Tomorrow` a track that the singer has admitted is “about being a woman in society” and `Fall To Pieces` another personal musing, both from the current release are given an airing.
We learn that Heather has been to the chocolate factory today, so I presume that was a visit to Cadbury`s at Bourneville and then offers the poppy `One More Time`, mid-paced `Wish U Were Here` and `Kiss` which has a bit of a Cure vibe about it.
Heather Baron-Gracie then takes a seat and picks up an acoustic guitar to share the ballad `Odd Ones Out` as most of the faithful`s phones light up the venue as they are waved along. The band then share a brand new song in `Jealousy` which was pretty upbeat and had people clapping along before dropping the really catchy `Red`. Two tracks from the band`s EP `All Things I Never Said` follow with the dreamy `My Obsession` and the bouncy `The Tide` before closing the set with the quite anthemic `Easy`.
The group return for a two song encore which included the polar opposite of love songs `She`s My Religion` and `There`s A Honey` as they end this pretty enthusiastic hour long show.
Pale Waves deliver an enjoyable evening of delightfully catchy punk tinged pop songs and have in Heather Baron-Gracie, a singer who has learned pretty quickly how to work an audience. The show was split equally between tracks from both albums which i`m sure pleased fans old and new and also a new song which confirmed that the band will retain that melodic enthralling furrow they plough. The group, quite rightly, aren`t shy about discussing and promoting their sexuality and along with some captivating melodies this certainly resonates with their fan base. On the strength of what I witnessed tonight, as late eighties pop star Yazz sang, for this band “The Only Way Is Up”.
