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Vol. 55
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Pale Waves
The Waterfront, Norwich
Thursday 3rd October 2024
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PALE WAVES – NOrwich – live review
If the length of the queue outside The Waterfront in Norwich is anything to go by, then anticipation is high for the opening night of the ‘Smitten’ tour!
Hot on the heels of the release of their fourth album, Pale Waves are back on the road and many shows on this run are sold out as fans clamour to see how these charming love songs translate to the stage.
SWIM SCHOOL
Before then however, the packed venue is treated to an opening act making waves of their own. swim school are one of those bands that have built some good early momentum and now need to ensure that they capitalise on their potential.
Despite a rather polite Norwich crowd this evening, you are still able to see the impression that the trio leave on the crowd. Singer Alice Johnson quips that they have been referred to in the past as a “sh*t version of Pale Waves” before adding “hopefully we aren’t so sh*t anymore”. Tonight the likes of ‘give me a reason why’ and ‘see red’ certainly dispel any such thoughts. Instead you are left further rooting for the band to succeed!
PALE WAVES
That concept is evidently ingrained into the fanbase of Pale Waves. Again, as they arrive onstage you can see and feel the special connection they share with their audience. It’s a beautiful thing to witness and even when kicking off with two new tracks, ‘Perfume’ and ‘Not a Love Song’, the crowd sings back every single word.
‘There’s a Honey’ and ‘Change’ then take it up a notch or two and by the time Pale Waves deliver rarer number ‘Drive’ the symbiosis between fan and artist is complete. This remains extant throughout the rest of the performance and ensures an uplifting atmosphere is enjoyed by all.
We spoke in our recent review of ‘Smitten’ about the prolificacy of Pale Waves, and as the set progresses the sheer amount of standout tracks that the band now possess is another testament to this.
Particularly noteworthy is that the new tracks can undeniably hold their own amongst old favourites ‘Television Romance’, ‘Eighteen’, ‘Easy’ and ‘She’s My Religion’. Finally, an encore of ‘Glasgow’ and ‘Jealousy’ is more than enough to send the audience back home happy.
It has been an engaging night with both acts delivering on the promise of the evening. Pale Waves are operating at a consistently high level across their studio and stage outputs and swim school are hot on their heels!
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Vol. 53
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Pale Waves
Smitten
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‘Smitten’ represents the fourth Pale Waves album in the past six years, which in this day and age is nothing short of prolific! Each album has benefited from its own identify with the band clearly willing to double down on a sound or concept when it arises.
The theme this time around comes from youthful romantic learnings and exploration as frontwoman Heather Baron-Gracie reflects on her own experiences as she learnt more about herself and the pitfalls and positives of love.
Musically the band have left behind the pop-punk sound which dominated ‘Unwanted’ and embraced a dream pop ambience over the course of these delicate twelve new tracks. ‘Smitten’ is certainly another carefully curated sonic soundscape from the group.
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Whilst some may criticise the band for wearing their influences on their sleeves, the cohesion that they manage to achieve on each record is truly impressive. You can feel the love and passion that they put into each album and ‘Smitten’ is no different.
Pale Waves always appear in a constant state of evolution as they explore their creative abilities, taking elements from those influences and adding new layers with each new album. Again, for a band to hit this level of consistency out of the career gates is mightily impressive.
In many ways Pale Waves are something of a throwback, and again they’ve managed to create something which both old school indie pop fans and the new generation of music lover will be able to get behind.
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