Review: Pale Waves at Boilershop Newcastle

Invited| Review by Samantha Pearson

‘I F*cking love Geordies’ crept from Heather Baron-Gracie’s mouth as she warmed up the Boiler Shop Newcastle crowd for their fourth studio album ‘Smitten’ tour. Forming in 2014 and releasing their debut single ‘There’s a Honey’ back in 2017, the 80s inspired early hits from their first album have graciously progressed, being compared further to synth-pop, indie rock for the second and third albums, and the fourth album, if I am to judge, has a very similar vibe to The Cranberries in the early 1990’s.  

Swim School, a three-piece from Edinburgh support the whole tour, and the atmospheric vocals of Alice Johnson beguiles the crowd with her platinum blonde locks and effortless style, confidently strutting the stage keeping us engaged. The echoing loose riffs of the band were a great fit to accompany Pale Waves on their tour and reminded me of them in their early days, experimenting with music and putting themselves out there, hopefully gaining a larger fan base in the process. 

Pale Waves descended on the stage to a wonderful backdrop beautifully embellished with extravagant chandeliers and grand statues, cleverly referring back to the ‘Smitten’ album concept. The fans warmly welcome the band with cheers and applause whilst the lead single ‘Perfume’ from the new album elevates the crowd up a notch even more. ‘Not A Love Song’ follows, another track from the new album, soon followed by ‘There’s a Honey’, in which the crowd echoed HBC’s vocals word for word. The enjoyment continues throughout the seventeen-song setlist including other favourites such as ‘Change’, You’re So Vain’, ‘Easy’, ‘Television Romance’ and also a bit of crowd participation as the band allowed to cheer for a choice between two songs ‘Red’ and ‘Unwanted’, the screams for ‘Red deafened the room and the decision was decided, much to the audience’s delight.  

Heather Baron-Gracie’s signature style and confidence flows across the stage, dressed in her lace up knee high boots, fish nets, and leather jacket, she captivates the crowd with her curled emo black locks and token make-up look. From the early Pale Waves days, you can see how the band have settled comfortably into the music scene, especially the conviction Heather puts into her presence on stage and calmly and easily interacting with the crowd. Especially during ‘She’s My Religion’, the band are all for the ‘gay’ community and she prides herself on this, I think welcoming an even bigger fanbase for being so inclusive, draping over a pink Pride flag handed to her by a fan – a common occurrence when playing this track on tour.  

The band leave the stage, lead swiftly by anticipated shouts of ‘one more song’ from the crowd. Pleasantly surprised, we were treated to a further two tracks. ‘Glasgow’ being first before the band ripping it all to shreds and closing on a pop-punk classic ‘Jealously’ from the 2022 album ‘Unwanted’, think a mix of ‘Misery Business’ by Paramore and ‘My Medicine’ from The Pretty Reckless.  

The venue was a perfect grunge fest for the evening, and after seeing Pale Waves for a third time this evening, it was probably the best I’d heard HBC, as sometimes her vocals can be overwhelmed by the surroundings. The dimmed lighting including moody red hues were perfect for band and echoes of the room helped to fully accentuate both bands throughout the night. Another wonderful gig in an excellent venue at the heart of Newcastle.  

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