Pale Blue Eyes | Human Interest
Ramsgate Music Hall, Ramsgate, Kent
17th May 2024
From Sheffield, via the South-West Devon market town of Totnes to the South-East Kent coastal town of Ramsgate, Pale Blue Eyes have traversed England to make their way to Ramsgate Music Hall. “We’ve heard sooooo many good things about @ramsgatemusichall, Looking forward to heading there… with support from m8s @humaninterestband” PBE posted on their Instagram page. On the penultimate night of their current tour, Pale Blue Eyes brought plenty of energy and enthusiasm to the intimate Thanet venue and plenty of enthusiastic, well-versed fans.
Ramsgate Music Hall served as the irresistible filling between The Forum in Tunbridge Wells on the previous night, and The Crescent in York on the final night. Their headline tour comes ahead of a European tour opening for Slowdive and after “the longest gap we’ve had from gigging in about 3 years”. You wouldn’t have known it. PBE were on fine form throughout a blistering set.
Taking to the Music Hall stage prior to Pale Blue Eyes were London-based, Kent regulars, Human Interest. As well as supporting PBE on the previous night of their tour, they’ve also recently opened for English Teacher at Where Else? in Margate. The four-piece, who, like more than a hundred other artists, made the decision to bow out of The Great Escape festival at the weekend were, once again, great value.
Human Interest treated the packed room to a very groovy Cool Cats, a mellowed out Grounded, the ever-building brilliance of Cat Harrison’s one-time favourite song – Jelly Fish and a new song for “anyone that’s worked in hospitality”. Oddly, or not, there were possibly fewer hospitality savvy workers in the audience than Harrison and co were expecting as there was only a muted response to the introduction of the new track – Wearing Faces.
Cat acknowledged the legendary status of the 2015 winner of Best Independent Venue, as well as just how good Pale Blue Eyes were before closing out their set with their latest, tantalising single – ‘Shapeshifting’. The band’s newest release, from late April, is part of a forthcoming EP, Smile While You’re Losing (An Audio Guide to Wellness), which is due out on September 9th.
The former Totnes tunesmiths, Pale Blue Eyes, took to the Ramsagte stage after making their way through the tightly packed Kent crowd. The melodic four-piece delivered a pitch-perfect hour length set that drew from a very high-quality portfolio. The electrifying immediacy of Takes Me Over got proceedings underway with a burst of well-harnessed energy. TV Flicker kept up the BPM and the heady momentum with a dash of Electro infusion before Spaces got the audience bopping before them.
Three tracks from the band’s second album – This House, showcased Pale Blue Eyes musicianship mid-set as they delivered on-point versions of Simmering, Heating’s On (“a driving anthem”), and the opening track from the 2023 release – More. The partisan crowd loved it as they got more and more immersed in the occasion. Lead singer and guitarist Matt Board often needed his trusty towel as the sweat began drifting from his face at an ever-increasing frequency.
Lucy Board, drummer, and wife to Matt, kept a tight reign on the beat as she cooly and calmly aced her percussive duties from the back. The sound mix of lush, 80’s referencing keyboards, pulsating bass lines, revolving guitar lines and harmonised vocals was spot on. The acoustics of Ramsgate Music Hall seemed to suit PBE fascinating blend of creative guitar-driven electronica perfectly.
Mr Pong, with it’s very catchy synth hook and high set vocals deftly captured the band’s retro leanings before Pale Blue Eyes returned to their debut release of Motionless, and then penultimately, Chelsea. The promise that was so impressively flagged up on their early 2021 single has not disappointed since, despite the bumpy road they’ve had to navigate.
The emotional resonance of Sister, a track written to “celebrate the complexities of relationships between family and friends”, concluded a fabulous set from an, as yet, somewhat underappreciated band. Pale Blue Eyes long-awaited pilgrimage to Ramsgate Music Hall was well worth the wait, and hopefully the first of many.
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You can find Pale Blue Eyes online here: They’re also on
Facebook and X, as @pbemusic
You can find Human Interest online here: They’re also on
Facebook and X, as @xhumaninterestx
All words by Andrew Lockwood. More writing by Andrew Lockwood can be found at his author’s archive.
All photos by Aaron Thompson. AMP Photography
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