Wednesday night is a great night for a “girl’s night”, and that’s precisely what PVRIS, Pale Waves, and Sizzy Rocket had in store on the Oil & Water Live Tour. Three powerful, female-fronted bands. Unfortunately, due to some small communication hiccups, I did not have the chance to see Sizzy Rocket, but both Pale Waves and PVRIS put on a show to remember at Toronto’s Danforth Music Hall on June 19th, 2024.
Hailing from Manchester England, Pale Waves have been bringing their edgy indie rock to crowds for 10 years. The quartet: Heather Baron-Gracie (Vocals/Guitar), Ciara Doran (Drums), Hugo Silvani (Guitar), and Charlie Wood (Bass), had the crowd dancing from the moment they walked on stage. Despite a small guitar-related technical issue on song 3 (which was handled well with humor), the 9-song setlist, spanning their catalog, including one track from their upcoming record releasing this fall, was a perfect way to get the crowd in the right mood for the main event.
PVRIS (pronounced Paris, for those wondering), is an American pop/rock band from Lowell, Mass. The band is fronted by its only surviving original member, Lynn Gunn (Vocals/etc.), and backed by two touring musicians: Denny Agosto (Drums), and Brian MacDonald (Bass/Keys) who have picked up the rhythm section for this tour. The energy right from the start was electric. Flashy lighting, and hard-hitting danceable tracks led by Lynn’s talented voice made for a great night listening to upwards of 21 songs on their setlist. The majority of the songs unsurprisingly came off their most recent release “Evergreen”, which came out in 2023 and also included “Oil & Water” (the tour’s namesake), which was released earlier this year. There was, however, still a good selection of older songs from almost every other album in their library. Lynn led the crowd through waves of heavier songs and slower ballads, maintaining a good balance and keeping fans engaged from start to finish.
Overall, this was a great show that was gritty, but also wildly fun, with fans dancing and screaming along from start to finish.
See photos from the show below!
