The doors were open. The lights were dimmed. Avril Lavigne was playing over the speaker system. No, I wasn’t at Pop Tarts. I was at a Pale Waves gig, waiting for the band to take the stage.
On Sunday, I went to see popular Manchester band Pale Waves at the O2 Academy Sheffield for the last night of their UK and Ireland tour. Led by frontwoman Heather Baron-Gracie, the rock band consists of three other members; Ciara Doran, Hugo Silvani and Charlie Wood.
Claiming “Sheffield never disappoints,” the quartet owned the stage from the very first second of the first song, ‘Change’. Followed by an instrumental buildup, this track was a definite crowd-pleaser and felt like the perfect introduction to the gig.
‘Television Romance’, reminiscent of a sound similar to The 1975, was the next song to be played from their impressive setlist. The pop-rock tune matched their neon pop-pink lighting in a fitting manner and with the smooth sounds being created by the three guitars on stage, it made for an amazing atmosphere and the crowd seemed to enjoy it a great deal.
The crowd seemed instantly hooked by these first few minutes of the gig, jumping on the songs straight away and joining Baron-Gracie in blaring out the lyrics. The vibes shifted ever-so-slightly when we got to track four, as ‘Tomorrow’ had a heavier rock feel to it. ‘Fall to Pieces’ followed, again with everyone joining in and singing along to the song. This track was definitely a crowd favourite of the night and the singing from gig goers never felt louder.
It is safe to say this same crowd then took away ‘One More Time’ on their own during its introduction. People were getting on others’ shoulders, waving their arms passionately in the air to the beat and were simply just having a great time. Despite the guitarist strumming only once whenever a new line of lyrics began, this had a massive impact musically and made for a great overall live sound.
The following track ‘Wish U Were Here’ felt more toned-down than others within the setlist, having a very strong Taylor Swift sound. This vibe soon shifted though, as the band moved on to playing ‘Kiss’. The guitar in this song was powerful and had a 90s-retro synth effect added, helping its sound stand out within the song. This went down well with the crowd, who once again loved this song from the very start.
As we entered what the band called a “soft moment” within the gig, it seemed as though the crowd were as equally invested as they were at the very start, with groups of friends eagerly waiting for every track and shouting compliments at the band. One of these amusingly revealed that someone named their Volkswagen Beetle after the lead singer, and it is safe to say she was very flattered!
‘The Tide’ and ‘Easy’ soon followed in the setlist, both having very different sounds and varying the instruments the band used. This made for a nice variety, as the sound did become slightly repetitive throughout the night. A lot of their songs sounded very similar and the lyrics were often repetitive at the chorus of each track. Despite this, their live performance and stage presence made up for this repetitive nature and I soon forgot about it as soon came the familiar point of high anticipation at any gig: the encore!
It seemed everyone wanted ‘Noises’ to be played. People were chanting the song title, Twitter was full of people wanting the song to appear within the setlist and luckily, to the crowds’ delight, the song was spontaneously included at the last minute. The final cluster of tracks, including ‘She’s My Religion’ and ‘There’s a Honey’, made for a brilliant end to the show and the fact they played ‘Noises’ got the crowd going absolutely wild.
This bumper set proved very popular. Despite the repetitive nature of some of their songs, Pale Waves’ live set worked well and they ended with an absolute bang.
It was the perfect gig to end their tour with and I hope to see this band again in the future!
Rating: 4/5