Review: Pale Waves at Amplifier Bar

Pale Waves at Amplifier Bar
w/ Teenage Joans, Selfish Sons
Tuesday, March 21, 2023

“Tell me Perth, are you the jealous type?” 

Usually it is Perth audiences left feeling jealous as time and time again we get passed over for tour dates with management not seeing a stop to the far west as a smart economic option. The first and last time Pale Waves were down under was in 2018 and Sydney and Melbourne each got a show, but no Perth.

Come 2023 and on tour for their third studio album Unwanted, Pale Waves have made the distance to our sunny coast, and on Tuesday, Perth got its first taste of the Pale Waves' love.

With the frontage of Magnet House closed up and a low rumble coming from down the alleyway, the assumption was that the show was moved to Amplifier, most probably due to the Tuesday night billing.

The low rumbling was Brisbane's Selfish Sons, who despite being on first and early, drew a decent-sized and appreciative crowd to the front of the stage. Their tightness and solid vocals stood out immediately, with the aforementioned thick bass sound now thunderous. Lead singer Jordan Polbodetto engaged the crowd remarking, “What day is it? It’s a Tuesday night, right?!”

Adelaide's Teenage Joans were up next and oozed youthful angst, loud guitar and thumping drums. The second song, Terrible got the crowd into it early as singer/guitarist Cahli Blakers prompted everyone to join in with the chorus “It's terrible, but it’ll do, I’m terrible, but I’m not you!”

The set was full of hits, including triple j's 2020 Unearthed High winning track Three Leaf Clover and new single Superglue off their upcoming album to be released later this year. The delicate vocals from drummer Tahlia Borg in Wine made a nice contrast to main singer Blakers spitting punk rock delivery.

Their on-stage banter was hilarious, entertaining the crowd with funny anecdotes of crazy Uber drivers in America and how spending too much time in Texas had left them saying “Ya’ll!” a lot. They closed with Something About Being Sixteen emanating the energy reminiscent of the 90s riot grrrl acts, bringing to mind Californian pop punk act The Muffs.

Pale Waves burst onto the stage with their new album opener Lies, singer Heather Baron-Gracie playing the rock diva part sporting thick black sunglasses. They smashed through the first block of songs, You're So Vain and You Don't Own Me, before addressing the crowd, “Hello Perth, We are Pale Waves and we are from Manchester” then launched into their breakthrough hit Television Romance.

“You might be wondering why I’m wearing these sunglasses and can’t see shit, I’m not trying to be a diva.” Baron-Gracie stated, “I’ve had an allergic reaction and at the moment my eyes look like giant fish eyes and it’s not very cute.” “You look stunning!” came a shout from the crowd.

“This is our first time in Perth and we are very excited. What is there to do in Perth? Charlie and  Hugo Went to the beach today without sunscreen and got burnt, who does that?!”

“If you didn’t know I’m very gay, and this song is very gay too” Baron-Gracie quipped as they started Clean.

The handsome string section of Hugo Silvani on guitar and Charlie Wood on bass were animated and played with perfection while drummer Ciara Doran was an unrelenting powerhouse.

The band was flawless and fell into that pocket where they were sounding amazing, looking perfectly at home on the stage and just having fun. Baron-Gracie swanned with confidence and grace, joking and playing with the front row of fans.

Big hits came in the form of There's a Honey, Unwanted and the encore of She's My Religion and big closer Jealousy. Drummer Doran even indulged the audience with a “shoe-y,” something that international bands seem to think is synonymous with Australian culture somehow.

“Best Tuesday ever!” came another shout from the crowd.

It’s a delight to see globally successful genre-niche bands making the trip over the desert to take a chance on our sleepy little town, even though the Tuesday night date would have put off the fence sitters, it made for a more appreciative crowd of hardcore Pale Waves/pop punk fans. Hopefully, they’ll see us as a viable stop on the next tour and perhaps consider a weekend date to entice more emos out of the woodwork.

ANTHONY JACKSON

Photos by Nicola Robb