Geordie rock trio The Pale White return to the live stage with a cathartic and sold-out headline to leave listeners reeling
Following the release of their much-anticipated debut LP Infinite Pleasure back in April this year, alt-rock heavyweights The Pale White are finally unleashing a plethora of thrilling new material on-stage this December. Their 2021 UK headline tour starts, of course, in Newcastle with a sold-out celebration at Boiler Shop.
Giving some worthy talent a chance to shine, momentum builds throughout the two support slots; Liverpudlian act Novelty Island provides some currently much-needed warmth with “primary-colour psychadelia” before local five-piece Jango Flash up the ante with fleshed-out tunes like ‘Perseid 45’ and ‘Acting on the Telephone’ leaving a tasteful sonic mark on the room.
The Pale White trio soon march out for their biggest headline show to date and delve straight into the album’s rowdy title track, a stomper with epic drum fills that immediately answers the self-proposed question: “are we righteous?”
The sticky riffs of ‘Glue’ and flowing groove of ‘Take Your Time’ show off the vocal capabilities of frontman Adam Hope, who announces with great pleasure (infinite, maybe), “we’ve been waiting for this… 2 years, it’s mental.” No member goes unnoticed, with Tom delivering not only throbbing bass lines but a delightful harmonic backing throughout, and Jack Hope’s animated performance draws attention even from behind his drum kit. The introduction of a fourth live member also sprinkles additional guitar tones and expansive keys where necessary, a move that shows the band are adopting new approaches to enliven fresh material.
Speaking of which, plenty of brand new music is unveiled to surprise even the most devoted fan – a screeching riff and addictive rhythm is pummeled out in the form of Wednesday’s new discography addition ‘Never Enough’ and two teases at upbeat future singles are debuted amidst a brief delve into pre-album material.
With Boiler Shop packed out with not only fans but an extensive suite of Geordie peers, tonight proves an ample celebration of the band’s achievements to date as is the perfect example of the chemistry they’ve established over the last 5 years. Beefy tracks like ‘Unnatural’ sit alongside more haunting moments like the delicate ‘Anechoic Chamber Blues’ with impressive comfort, and only a brief pause for champagne holds back the dynamic, elongated and undeniably fitting closer ‘Frank Sinatra’.
This show and indeed tour are truly a snapshot of where the band are at right now; their act has changed a great deal over the last few years, and it looks like the band won’t be sitting still for too long either. However, for now we can enjoy a celebration of old tunes (‘Reaction’), crowd-enrapturing, fan-favourite album tracks (‘Medicine’) and these as-of-yet unnamed looks towards a second full-length release. As Adam suggests: “let’s do the academy next time, yeah?!”
The Pale White continue their UK tour this week, with shows in London, Glasgow and more. For tickets head over here.
