Pale Blue Eyes Illuminate Gorilla
- Paul Evans
- Apr 12
- 3 min read
Gorilla Manchester April 9th 2025
WORDS AND IMAGES PAUL EVANS
Manchester's Gorilla, nestled beneath the railway arches of Whitworth Street West, provides the perfect backdrop for a night of immersive music. Gorilla is renowned for its industrial charm that creates an atmosphere both raw and inviting and for the close interaction between artists and audience. Manchester has always had a relationship with grit and glamour and tonight is no different.
Before PALE BLUE EYES unleash their driving rhythms, heartfelt lyricism and dreamy synth textures it’s the rising, restless energy of local lads SHAKING HANDS who are to jolt the night into gear. The Manchester newcomers slide onto stage with minimal fuss. It’s a set showcasing a blend of post-punk rhythms with shoegazing jazz (if there is such a thing), but it’s the numerous tempo changes and delicate outros which sets them apart and immediately captures the audience's attention. They bring a raw magnetism that feels perfectly balanced between studied artistry and livewire unpredictability. There’s a precision, but there’s also just enough unleashed chaos to feel dangerous There’s not much publicity out there for them, not this Shaking Hands band anyway, but they are definitely one to watch out for.
What started in a spare bedroom became something larger for Pale Blue Eyes, thanks in part to their unique blend of analogue synth textures, lyrical sincerity and rhythmic precision. Their debut album Souvenirs (2022) introduced them as dream-pop revivalists with heart. 2023’s This House, This Moment expanded their sonic palette, but it was 2025’s New Place that solidified their status as one of the UK’s most forward-thinking indie bands. They’ve been steadily honing their craft over the last few years by touring extensively across the UK and Europe, supporting a damn fine list of bands such as GOAT, Slowdive and Public Service Broadcasting. Their music certainly gives a nod to the past but also firmly looks to the future and they seem to be just on the crest of the wave to take things further. Fingers crossed.
Beneath deep blue lights the packed crowd lean in as the ambient synth drone as first track Scrolling floats through the air like a sonic exhale. The track shimmers live becoming a hypnotic groove under the railway arches with just enough bottom end to shake your feet to. Matt Board’s chorus-soaked guitar and voice perfectly drift over Lucy Board’s metronomic drumming and Aubrey Simpson’s weaving bass melody. The crowd entranced, move and nod like one body and somehow it sounds both human and machine-like in equal measure. TV Flicker bursts with glimmering keys like dewdrops on glass feeling like a love letter to nostalgic escapism and I’m reminded of the best of Beach House and New Order while Honeybear slowly bounces with sugary 1988 Manc swagger.
Live, the band’s sonic chemistry is uncanny. They never overplay; everything exists to serve the song. Lucy, especially, is a revelation betraying an inventiveness that makes each rhythm feel fresh. Under Northern Sky blankets the room in melancholic euphoria feeling like a mantra in the swaying crowd as long silhouettes are cast across the stage, like ghosts flickering between chords. With its glacial synth lines and heartbeat rhythm, it sounds like the soundtrack to a slow-motion film reel: lovers holding hands, raindrops on neon signs, trains slipping into tunnels. Motionless and Our History both have a Neu!-esque pulse, but instead of clinical cool, Pale Blue Eyes bring warmth and emotional precision to the mix. Our Lost Words, Now and Again and Chelsea are masterclasses in pacing and showcase the band's ability to weave intricate narratives through music. They glide across glistening synth textures and hushed harmonies, purifying, bursting with resolve and release and I’m reminded of the best Shoegaze bands from back in the day.
Pale Blue Eyes are often labelled as synth-pop or dream-pop, but these tags feel too narrow. What they truly offer is emotional architecture. Every sound they make serves a feeling, a memory, or a hope. They’re not just retrofitting the past they’re rebuilding it in their own image. What makes them special is not just their sound, but their intention. They write songs that feel like personal letters. Live tonight, they’ve delivered these letters with power and poise in the flicker of lights and the half-light of melody. Catch Pale Blue Eyes now before the whole world catches up.
SETLIST
1/ Scrolling
2/ TV Flicker
3/ Rituals
4/ Honeybear
5/ Under Northern Sky
6/ The Dreamer
7/ Motionless
8/ Our History
9/ Our Lost Words
10/ Now and Again
11/ Chelsea
12/ Sister
13/ Half Light
FOLLOW PALE BLUE EYES
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