top of page

Pale Waves: O2 Victoria Warehouse, Manchester, March 1.



Pale Waves returned home for the Manchester leg of their UK tour in an energetic display of 21st century indie punk rock


Cold, dark, cynical.


These three adjectives are used in the chorus of Pale Waves’ recent single ‘She’s my religion’ and were three pre-conceptions I had of the band before the gig. Or should I now say misconceptions.


Playing in the shadow of The Theatre of Dreams, Pale Waves put on a performance of their own. Returning to their hometown of Manchester, headlining Victoria Warehouse, in what intense lead singer Heather Baron-Gracie said was the ‘biggest venue’ they have played in the city.


Well, the Indie/punk rock band showed why they’ll only get better.


The usual youthful crowd gathered at the front, while the older group of fans stood at the back with me, drinking our £6.50 pints as support band Hot Milk took to the stage, while a pre-recorded robotic voice greeted the crowd.


“Wakey, wakey”


There was no chance of sleeping through that. Boasting sounds similar to a mixture of Green Day and Bring Me the Horizon, the self-proclaimed ‘emo power-pop duel fronted band’ were almost an ideal way to get the crowd warmed up.


Loud drums and an eccentric front two owned the stage and caused mosh pits of entranced fans. The scene was set of Pale Waves to entertain.


They duly delivered.




Taking to the stage wearing a short white top, with black leather pants in true rock style, Baron-Gracie quickly addressed the crowd and got right into the music.


Opening with the subtle, pop-style single ‘Change’, the light drumbeat, and gentle vocals channelled its inner Avril Lavigne, forcing countless waving hands to bounce up and down, every word blasted around the venue and back to the artists.


Fan favourite ‘Television Romance’ was next, and the already energised crowd screamed so loudly they drowned out the lead vocals and glittery guitar riffs and wouldn’t have looked out of place celebrating a goal at the football stadium next door.


The dynamic changed around four songs in when Baron-Gracie ditched her electric for an acoustic guitar to serenade the crowd with heartbreak track ‘Wish you were here’, in which she asked the crowd to “sing every word with me”. Again, they delivered.


The eerie, retro aura of the Stretford’s former 20th century storage warehouses felt almost like a personification of the band’s aesthetic and lyricism, perfectly displayed by this stripped back song.


The loudest cheer of the night came when Baron-Gracie asked the crowd if their favourite colour was red, the title of another fan favourite song, to which a basic indie guitar riff was accompanied by the beautiful, high-pitched vocals of the lead singer in a spiteful love song.


The best performances of the night were left for the encore, where ‘she’s my religion’ and ‘There’s a honey’ brought a Paramore type performance from Baron-Gracie, who jumped into the moshing youth, wrapped in a rainbow flag, only vocalising frequent laughs in the latter song.


The four piece produced a captivating performance throughout that will soon see the band breaking more personal record attendances.

15 views0 comments
Post: Blog2_Post
bottom of page