The Pastels, The Cluny, Newcastle

We’re down at The Cluny extremely early this evening, as one of the North East’s finest bands is making a very rare appearance. Brilliant Mind are one of those criminally underrated bands, their perfectly crafted indie pop and lead singer Callum’s sense of humour are second to none. The band is in high spirits and so would we be, having the opportunity to support one of the greatest indie pop bands of all time, The Pastels.

Brilliant Mind have so many excellent tracks, all of which strike a chord with us but the likes of ‘Our Osprey’ and ‘Leave Your Friends’ really stand out this evening. Their fantastic lyrics and Callum Lynn’s excellent delivery really helping. Brilliant Mind are also a band who wear their influences firmly on their sleeves, as the last song of tonight’s set suggests ‘Blyth’, the jewel of the Northumberland coast where the band hail from, has a clear influence on their music.

Having left the stage and returned to their reclusive state, all eyes are fixed forward as the lights go down. The Pastels take to the stage with Stephen McRobbie immediately apologising for the ‘technical robots’ failing them this evening and thus the late start to their set. Wasting no time though they open with the awesome ‘Slow Summits,’ such a beautiful way to start; the title track of the bands latest LP, this evening’s set is biased towards newer material.

However, this is not an issue for us, whilst the band have three decades of awesome work behind them, they’re a band who aren’t afraid to evolve and grow. Tonight demonstrates this as they play tracks like the beautiful ‘Summer Rain’ and ‘Come To The Dance,’ both of which embody that beautiful indie pop structure with sweet harmonies accompanied by beautifully twee lyrics.

‘Fragile Gang’ is met with a huge crowd reaction, as is ‘Baby Honey’ which the band close with this evening. It is clear to see that those in attendance have been with the band for a number of years as they sing back every word, the older songs tugging on the heartstrings of so many here tonight.

In between songs The Pastels take time to regale us with the one and only time they visited Blyth, it was for a festival in a leisure centre with Primal Scream, and apparently, according to McRobbie, the concert itself was something of a blur.

This evening was a truly special one, both bands have been on top form despite the technical gremlins attempting to spoil things at the beginning of The Pastels set. A rare opportunity to see one of the pillars of the indie pop scene, but also to seea band who aren’t afraid to move with the times and evolve, as opposed to remaining in the same rut.