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support Pale Blue Eyes
author KRS date 21/01/24 venue Store VEGA, Copenhagen, DEN

After Indisciplinarian’s tenth anniversary party at Pumpehuset the day before, I’m looking forward to a palate cleaner of music from a totally different genre. I don’t mind the heavy stuff, but it’s not truly where my heart lies, so I head to Store VEGA to watch the shoegazers of Slowdive, arriving at the sold-out venue some 15 minutes before the support band Pale Blue Eyes are set to go on stage. The smoke from the room is already filling the venue’s corridors, and the laughter and excitement of people around me is getting me even more excited than earlier during the day. See, I was excited about Slowdive’s concert for months, and when it hit me that no one else was going to review it, I jumped on the opportunity and called dibs. So here we are, ready to be blown away.

Pale Blue Eyes

I'm excited to see and hear Pale Blue Eyes too. While I can’t believe that it’s happening myself, surely the band can’t believe their luck in getting to provide support for Slowdive either. Walking onto the stage precisely at 8 p.m., the focus is squarely on them. It’s exciting because when I look around, I can see a handful of others familiar with the shoegaze, post-punk, indie, and other genres that wonder band Pale Blue Eyes have managed to play around with. And the term wonder band isn’t used lightly here; while I’ve heard their studio albums, I was prepared for something less energetic -- but that wasn’t what was in store tonight.

Kicking us off with “Take Me Over,” the energy flows from the band to the audience. I have been curious how they would bring their songs to life on stage because they are layered with synths, keyboards, and other things to give them the depth they need. But what truly amazes me about Pale Blue Eyes is how they are able to coordinate their songs so well. One minute, you have a guitarist playing, and the next minute, the guitarist is working on the synths. Fifteen minutes into their set, the audience is warming up to the band, and they have clearly convinced us that they rightfully deserve their spot as supporting act on this tour. While Slowdive is indeed ambient, Pale Blue Eyes leans more into dream pop, which balance each other out. The band brings you to life with the preppy layers of synths and upbeat melodies, whilst still maintaining a more sophisticated post-punk sound — what’s not to like? And VEGA has ensured that the sound is up to the group’s high standards as well, allowing us to enjoy the concert both in terms of the visual aesthetic and energetic showmanship, and also in terms of how good the songs themselves sound.

If you can, you need to catch Pale Blue Eyes in concert.

Slowdive

Of course, Store VEGA is sold out mainly because it’s time for Slowdive to shine. And when their frontwoman Rachel Goswell, dressed to the nines, shouts: “What a great way to spend a Sunday!”, she is clearly not alone in the feeling. From teenagers to those who are a bit older, we are, in fact, ready to spend our Sunday evening in the company of one of the best shoegaze bands that exist today. They had previously shared that this wasn’t a tour to promote their latest album, 2023’s “Everything Is Alive”, but to celebrate all of their music, which is something that makes sense — at least to me. “Shanty” from the new album opens the show with spacey synths and hypnotic vocals respectively by Neil Halstead and Goswell herself. Already early on, one discovers just how well-rehearsed the setlist is and is immediately captivated.

While the audience isn’t exactly standing still during the beginning of the set either, I do notice a shift of energy when “Kisses” is played. People are moving a lot more, the atmosphere is more uplifting, and now we’re so far into the setlist that one gets lost in the music and the lights. Each song has its own light show that bounces off the walls and ceiling, creating an enchanting. By the time “Sugar for the Pill”, a song from their self-titled 2017 outing and one of the world's greatest songs if you ask me, comes on, I feel my emotions have been played with enough — and I’m not the only one. People are cheering, dancing and jumping, some are crying, and some clearly feel overwhelmed. This is a proper testament to the band, as they are all on fire, delivering tune after tune to the audience with gusto, and ensuring that this isn’t going to be a night to forget. In fact it is nearly perfect. “Alison” from 1993’s “Souvlaki” isn’t vocally as excellent as it could’ve been, but to hell with that — it’s a hard song to sing.

Slowdive were panned by critics when they first came around in the late ’80s and early ‘90s. But having now finally witnessed them live, I’ll chalk it up to the fact that they were ahead of their time. And from what I’ve heard and seen, only a few other bands can crack me like Slowdive manages tonight. All around me, I see teenagers with their parents, couples older than me living their best lives, and a band that truly wants to be here. I, too, am having a blast when the people in front of me suddenly yell: “We love you, Neil!”, and he finds it sweet, too. I don’t think anything can top Slowdive and their warm ambient sounds tonight. Just amazing!

Setlist:

• 1. Shanty
• 2. Star Roving
• 3. Catch the Breeze
• 4. Crazy for You
• 5. Souvlaki Space Station
• 6. chained to a cloud
• 7. kisses
• 8. Slomo
• 9. Sugar for the Pill
• 10. Alison
• 11. When the Sun Hits
• 12. Golden Hair (Syd Barrett cover)

— Encore —

• 13. Dagger
• 14. Skin in the Game
• 15. 40 Days