Pale Waves, Hot Milk, Bitters @ Victoria Warehouse, Manchester, March 1st 2022
Pale Waves have metamorphosed between records, and are already looking well on the way to emerging from their next cocoon. So it would be easy to expect that their live show would have turned into something else too, to match the theatrical developments the band underwent from 2018 debut My Mind Makes Noises to 2021 masterpiece Who Am I? But it hasn’t changed , really – not in a way that feels static, but in a way that amplifies the nostalgic, dreamy magic that’s always been Pale Waves at the core. The stage setup is the band’s classic neon light show, this time radiating brighter like a frame around the group – they’ve got bigger, but their personality, saturating the music, is still what’s shining the most in this performance.
Maybe the biggest change for Pale Waves, and the most reflective of their sonic switchup, is the support bands they’ve brought along. And clearly fans are into it. Opening up the night is Bitters, alt-pop newcomers who mix sparkle in amongst their grungier tones and, despite their youth as a band, enchant the massive Victoria Warehouse space with ease.
Next up is Hot Milk, with an even more formidable response. Their heavier sound is worlds away from the likes of Sports Team, who provided the warm-up for Pale Waves’s last headline run – and the room loves it. Han Mee tears about the stage like a firework, easily commanding the room as if they’d all come out just for her, and the band’s expertly penned pop-punk is rousing and captivating. There’s no doubt that half this crowd will be back when Hot Milk embark on their own headliner… but that’s for another time.
The reason the openers go down so well, we realise when Pale Waves take to the stage, is because this is a fan base who are ready to pour out their emotions – who flourish when they’re feeling really really hard. The second Pale Waves step out on stage, more assured of their stardom than ever, every heart in the room feels like it unlocks to the resounding chords of Change, the fitting beginning to Pale Waves’s new era.
The setlist is almost a dead equal split between new and old songs, and they fit together seamlessly. Change flows easily into Television Romance, and whenever those oh-so-familiar shimmers of synth appear, that characterised Pale Waves’s early sound, it feels like the audience breathes a collective sigh of contented nostalgia. Not that the happy pause lasts long, though, because some of the deeper cuts seem to have grown more emotional with age. The audience who were 18 when they first heard 18 are in their early 20s now; people who had their hearts broken to Kiss in sixth form are finishing uni; the magic of Pale Waves is that they transport you back there so intensely, and nowhere is this clearer than on There’s A Honey, the show’s euphoric closer.
‘Future classic’ is a phrase that’s thrown around a lot, but it’s apt here. That’s what songs from Who Am I? prove themselves as, the most obvious example being She’s My Religion, which precedes There’s A Honey in the encore and is as spellbinding and magnificent as the show gets. The 90s influences that have crept into Pale Waves’s sound more overtly make for a true rock show, with Fall To Pieces also a highlight, and self-proclaimed ‘pop-punk banger’ Tomorrow sitting early on in the setlist, but soaring as gloriously around the thousands-strong crowd as if it were the closer.
Odd Ones Out is tonight’s designated slow song, and it’s enchanting – but in a much different way than if Pale Waves had elected to play Who Am I?. They’ve never been a band to shy away from exposing their most personal material onstage, so Who Am I? being left off the setlist feels intentional – tonight is kept cathartic in a more lighthearted way. New tune Jealousy definitely fits the cathartic bill, driving even further into heavier territory than Who Am I? did and sounding good for it – PW3 has been confirmed on the way, and by the impression we get tonight, it’s the band having the most fun yet.
It’s been so long since the release of Who Am I? that this feels almost like an anniversary tour rather than a tour promoting the record. These are songs that have been lived to and loved to and saturated with memories and associations, and not a single song on the setlist doesn’t stir up a cocktail of emotions and thousands of elated voices joining in. It’s a stunning return to their hometown for Pale Waves, and testament to their ability to capture real feelings. That’s the red thread across the show tonight, whether it’s pop-punk explosions from our supports or the glittery chords of EP tracks or stinging, retro rockstar stylings on newer ones: it’s all fiercely emotive. We all leave Victoria Warehouse feeling a little lighter for it.
Tickets for remaining dates are available here.
