Project Description

PALE WAVES 

@ The Evelyn Hotel

12/07/2018

Reviewer: Kelsey Hentschel

.

.

Bristling with dark energy, pure pop sensibilities and new wave synergy, Manchester’s Pale Waves made their debut appearance in Australia and New Zealand this week. Promoting their hugely popular singles ‘There’s A Honey’, ‘Television Romance’, and the recently released ‘ALL THE THINGS I NEVER SAID’ EP. Amnplify had the opportunity to catch their first shows “Down Under”.

.

.

On Thursday the 12th July, Manchester indie group played a sold out intimate show at The Evelyn Hotel in Melbourne. The show commenced at the strange time of 4.30pm by the vibrant singer AViVA. The crowd were surprisingly stagnant through the opening set despite the performer exuding energy. The ‘turmeric’ haired singer closed up the set around 5pm and we were left to get ready for the main event.

It was clear when the band was about to emerge to the stage when we were greeted to eerie ‘drone’ music, reminiscent of label-mates The 1975’s opening display. However shortly after this opening sequence had begun it was cut short due to what seemed technical difficulties. Given approximately ten minutes we experienced the opening sequence again only this time the band actually ventured out onto the stage. Donning a black hoodie & checkerboard pants, front-woman & singer Heather jumped right into the bands hit track ‘Television Romance’.

Having seen fans lining up outside the venue early in the day, I was shocked at the heavy-footed crowd. There was one group of fans that stood out with their party hats & whistles. I was confused as to their attire but I appreciated their enthusiastic energy.

.

.

Pale waves continues their high energy set with their tracks ‘Heavenly’ & ‘Kiss’.

Heather moves around the stage flipping her hair about, once again drawing parallels with The 1975 seems inevitable. With the band working so closely with their mega-star counterparts, it makes sense that Pale Waves have picked up some stage tips off the iconic Matty Healy.

As the show continued the crowd seemed to get a little bit more rowdy, but still nowhere near as rambunctious as I was expecting. The most support surprisingly came when Heather announced they were about to sing a new unreleased song off their debut album (Not yet announced). A song about being eighteen, appropriately named ‘Eighteen’.

Finishing the set with hits ‘New Years Eve’ & ‘There’s A Honey’ the band gave it their all trying to engage the all ages crowd. And given the flat crowd, the slight pick up in energy was noticed. Overall a great show. The crowd’s lack of energy was unfortunate, however not the fault of the band. I felt the band did a wonderful job of captivating the audience & putting on an enjoyable show.

After the show the band were kind enough to come out and meet the fans who had stuck around, even signing a few set-lists for those lucky enough to snag one off stage. Thanks Pale Waves. Can’t wait to have you back in Australia soon.

.

Follow PALE WAVES

Facebook  |  Instagram  |  Twitter  |  Website

.

AMNPLIFY – KH