When Pale Waves took the the stage at Venue Saturday night, I felt like an extra walking into the bar scene in Pretty in Pink where the Duck smooches with Iona. Admittedly, I was a little late to the party; whilst next door indulging in my hard-earned McDonald’s Monopoly medium fries and small drink, someone had passed out in the men’s room, creating an exodus of staff and well-meaning patrons armed with Naxolone kits.
Aside from the small drama, I was soon consumed by pulsating waves of electro-synth and red stage lighting that would have made the Human League feel at home. In fact, I felt like I had witnessed pieces of The Cranberries, The Cure, Bauhaus, hell, even Lloyd Cole and the Commotions paid a visit to this stage to come and say, “Hi, ‘member us?”
Prior to putting my hands to the keypad, I had cruised a few online reviews that slammed Pale Waves for representing no more than the shallow, waxy black lipstick a 12-year old lifts from the cosmetics section of big-box retailers. However, the writer(s) of those articles clearly had no idea how much it cost to keep up an all-black wardrobe looking crisp and sharp, along with re-touching your roots every four weeks. Has no one hear of the Pastel Goth movement? Thank gawd this generation has dared to re-define what Goth should or could sound and look like. There is no more harm being created here than when Lenny Kravitz launched his career via retro 70s vibe, living vicariously through a decade he was not an adult in.
Words cannot describe how refreshing it was to hear a band play without auto-tune, and the on-stage female camaraderie between lead singer Heather Baron-Gracie and drummer Ciara Doran gave me faith that this is a band that may stick around. Bassist Charlie Wood and Hugo Silvani harmonize well together, and seeing both lads play opposing keyboards brought back a feeling of, well, dare I say:
Nostalgia.
written by August Bramhoff