Genre-defying Pale Waves returned to Sheffield once more, this time at The Foundry, rather than their usual venue of The Leadmill, or a slot at Tramlines Festival.
The four-piece are currently touring the UK in support of their latest album "Smitten" in which we can attest, is a banger. With instant classics like; Glasgow, Not A Love Song, Gravity, Last Train Home (we could list them all to be honest) the album was sure to be a huge hit with the South Yorkshire crowd.
I'm ashamed to admit I was aware of Pale Waves, but never gave them a chance before seeing them at Slam Dunk 2024, where they blew my socks off. With that, it meant I needed to see them again to cement them as a band firmly in my top 5.
The house music came down and an atmospheric glow bellowed around the room, with the opening to 'perfume' ringing out and exciting the eager crowd. Immediately after, they kicked into Not A Love Song, a personal favourite of mine. Heather Baron-Gracie's voice echoes around the room, commanding and holding the attention of the gig-goers as the emotive lyrics spill out in a perfect pitch.
Following a couple of slower songs, they followed up with "There's A Honey," which can easily be contested as their best track. It can be pointed out how early in the setlist this song was compared to previous sets, but this was just that extra spark to ignite the crowd for what's to come from the next hour or so.
An ultimatum came upon the crowd as Heather questions "would you rather hear Unwanted, or Red?" Red got the the loudest cheer and with it, it came out swinging through the beautiful sounds from the front-woman's vocals. What a choice it was, when the crowd are shouting the lyrics back to the stage it's hard to imagine it any other way (although gutted I didn't hear Unwanted).
The setlist was a wonderful eclectic mix, spanning multiple songs from each of their four records and swirling around a mix of different atmospheres in the audience, from the swaying Last Train Home to the more head-banging Kiss Me Again.
The opening chords for anthemic track "She's My Religion" shone through whilst the crowd whooped and cheered the loudest they had all night. The hit-track led them into walking off for an un-surprising encore, because whilst it is a perfect song, you need to end on something a bit more upbeat, right?
Back on they come, to show off more musical prowess with their latest album topper "Glasgow." An emotional song that is covered up by the cheeriness of the instruments.
Now here's the finale, the inception of Jealousy begins ringing out to the excitement of the crowd. You feel it building and building, with the "IT NEVER ENDS" blaring around the room as people go wild for one last ride on this emotional journey that Pale Waves take you through.
Whilst they're nearing the end of their tour, there are still some dates up and down the country, so no matter where you are, grab a ticket (if you're lucky enough) and get to experience the same sensations that thousands have already.
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