PASTEL + BIGHEAD – GREEN DOOR STORE, BRIGHTON 9.4.26
Fresh off the back from supporting CAST in the closing winter months of 2025, Pastel are back with their very own 12 date ‘A Little Bit of Love’ headline tour and in their own words they say “it’s the start of a new chapter, so make sure you’re part of it” and me along with a pretty much sold out crowd are all there to do just that.
Pastel are a 5-piece shoegaze guitar band based in Swansea, made up of Mancunian cousins Jack Yates (vocals) and James Yates (rhythm guitar), plus Joe Anderson (lead guitar), Rhys Wheeler (drums) and Liam O’Shea (bass guitar) and they are signed to the independent Manchester Label; Spirit of Spike Island. They’ve not played Brighton a huge amount, the first time was at the 2024 Psych Fest where I was in attendance, they were then back for the 2025 Great Escape. Their gigs generally sell out, so it’s great they are returning back to the south coast on this tour.
Since I last saw them, their brilliant album ‘Souls In Motion’ was released just over a year ago, so I am looking forward to a good long solid set from the band, so let’s get into it.
The band were due to hit the Green Door Store stage at 9pm, but some technical issues with amp connections delayed proceedings. While we waited we were treated to two Housemartins songs and then at 9:09pm the lights dimmed and band came on to tune of ‘Pure Imagination’ from Charlie & The Chocolate Factory, you know that freaky bit when Willy Wonka’s boat goes through the tunnel, quite a cool start to proceedings.
With no introduction they were straight into opener ‘Your Day’ from the album, this was a proper strong opener, one that had the crowd instantly singing along, the band bringing that full wall of guitar sound as was expected and hoped for.
Guitarist James welcomed us “Hello Brighton, how are you doing, are you good yeah?, I hope are behaving yourselves!, we are Pastel, God bless” and with that those meaty drums from Rhys took us into another song from the album ‘Running On Empty’, and talking of meat, whilst the band have not put out many singles, I have to say the bulk of the album is all meat and no filler, so I am not expecting any limp wallowing numbers here this evening.
The pace was taken down a notch for ‘IOU’, with James switching between guitar and his percussion drums. After which he thanked us “thank you, that was a new one, we’ve been writing lots of new songs and we are going to play another one for you, if you don’t mind, well you’ve got no choice as we are going to do it anyway, I hope you like it”. The song was ‘Psycho Filler’, the band all fired up, really getting into it with Jack crouching down facing and leaning on the drums, before swaying about and then punching out the lyrics, however about 40 seconds in after the first verse, James called time and the band stopped, he looked at Jack and said “your singing the wrong song!” everyone started laughing and jeering with Jack retorting, “you can boo me all you want, I don’t get f*cking paid enough to sing the right song, he pointed out into the crowd. I was testing you and not f*cking one of you knew a single thing right” he continued “see I am there mate, role playing chess and I’m playing chequers” lots more laughter came as he fist bumped drummer Rhys, “we’ll start that one again, I’m just testing and teasing you, getting you all wet and bothered”.
The band launched into it again, it was a great fast paced number with James on backing vocals. I must admit I thought it sounded very good with the first wrong set of lyrics, they worked with the beats and timing. The band were all smiles with Jack sticking his tongue out at Joe, who laughed back, at the end Jack proclaimed “I don’t make mistakes; I just make accidents that do right”. He once again said “I was just testing you” as he took off his coat, someone shouted have a drink, to which he replied “NOT have a drink, I’ve had too f*cking much too drink, anyway how you all doing, come on let’s hear you” as he gestured to the crowd to cheer. But getting back to the music, I was impressed with the new songs; I don’t think the band want to sit on the laurels and are keen to keep on pushing the envelope, so it’s exciting to see what will come as the year moves on.
James was back on his percussion drums and backing vocals for ‘Gone Too Fast’, another banger from the album, slower, but very catchy with the chorus “It’s just a Feeling” a line that had the crowd singing back.
‘Escape’ came next. I utterly love this song, if you put the Stone Roses, Oasis and The Verve in a pot and shook it up, this song and the vibes channeling from it are what you get. The crowd again were all singing along to this one.
James took to the microphone once again “A year ago we released our first album ‘Souls In Motion’. Did anyone here buy it? Did you like it? Well this is the first song off that album, it’s called ‘Heroes Blood’ I hope you like it”. It was another one bringing the wall of raging guitar sound, Jack’s vocals going from soft to full on as it progressed, I loved it.
Jack took the gap between songs to mention he’s had no break for the past three weeks and his voice was pretty wrecked, but no refunds. I guess it was a little hoarse, but he sounded fine to me, it all adds to their vibe and sound if anything. The song played was ‘Dancing On A Pin’ and got a big cheer regardless. Jack ducked down leaning against the drums once more as the band went straight into ‘Deeper Than Holy’, the lead title song from their first EP, (one that I’m still desperate to find the vinyl of). If there was one song I’d say listen to if you want to feel the vibe of Pastel, then listen to this, everything about it is perfect, the drums, the pace, the steady bass line, Jack and James repeat vocals and yet another the crowd were all singing along to.
The set was approaching its close now, and the band powered through the lively ‘Soho’, and the energetic ‘Blu’. For the final song James changed to an acoustic guitar, but some tech issues with the wiring held things up, giving Jack and James time to banter with the crowd and for James to tell everyone they sadly had to put their dog down that morning and wanted to dedicate the last song to him ‘Stanley Beagle Face’. The song was ‘Isiah’, the title song from their second EP. Jack’s voice was definitely going during this one, but the crowd all knew the words and everyone joined in, a slower song, but with crowd all in on it, a lovely way to end, quite emotional really.
The band do have an Oasis vibe going on with cousins James and Jack being the main focal points in terms of stage banter and crowd interaction. Jack often looked over at James, whose jacket hood was up and down throughout the set. I can’t quite tell whether Jack’s antics are him just being a bit tipsy or part of the act, it works though, he was far more vocal and cheeky compared to last time I saw them. But we can’t forget or overlook the other 3 members of the band, Rhys on those drums, a real powerhouse, Joe played that guitar like a Jedi and Liam kept those bass lines firm and calm, together they were a well-oiled engine. I still think this band is going to go up, up, up, that 90s vibe and the marketing is all perfect, I can’t wait to see what comes next from them.
Pastel:
Jack Yates – vocals
James Yates – guitars
Joe Anderson – guitars
Rhys Wheeler – drums
Liam O’Shea – bass guitar
Pastel setlist:
‘Your Day’ (from 2025 ‘Souls In Motion’ album)
‘Running On Empty’ (from 2025 ‘Souls In Motion’ album)
‘IOU’ (unreleased)
‘Psycho Filler’ (unreleased)
‘A Little Bit of Love’ (unreleased)
‘Think About It’ (unreleased)
‘Gone Too Fast’ (from 2025 ‘Souls In Motion’ album)
‘Escape’ (from 2025 ‘Souls In Motion’ album)
‘Heroes’ Blood’ (from 2025 ‘Souls In Motion’ album)
‘Dancing On A Pin’ (from 2025 ‘Souls In Motion’ album)
‘Deeper Than Holy’ (from 2025 ‘Souls In Motion’ album)
‘S.O.H.O’ (from 2022 ‘Isaiah’ EP)
‘Blu’ (from 2021 ’Deeper Than Holy’ EP)
‘Isaiah’ (from 2025 ‘Souls In Motion’ album)
In support tonight we have Bighead, formally known to the masses up until the tail end of 2025 as ‘Bighead Tea Drinkers’. They have played the Brighton music scene for some time, scrolling back through their social media; it looks like they must have played at surely every venue in this fair city over the years. And when I say years that makes them sound old, but they are not, far from it! The quartet comprising of Freddie Brindle (vocals, guitar), Ellie Hart (guitar), Marshall Tyce (drums) and Kian Ramsey (bass) started very young, two of them originally hailing from Essex, they relocated to Brighton to study at BIMM Institute and it was there that they all met and formed the band. I recognise their name, but for some reason I have never seen them live, so I’m looking forward to being schooled this evening.
We were treated to a blistering nine song, 32 minute set which started bang on the hour at 8pm. It kicked off with ‘Rocky’ which was a loud, full of energy opener. I noticed Squire and Fender guitars were the choice and all in the mix for the band this evening. Vocalist Freddie was the only one that spoke during the set between songs “Brighton, we are Bighead, thank you for coming down so early”. Next came their excellent 2025 single ‘Oh Lover’ and then ‘Model’ which was possibly my favourite of the set so far, but as I was to learn my favourite was going to keep on changing as things progressed.
‘Just Say When’ came next and was a new one, starting out nice and chilled with jangly guitar from Freddie and deep bass from Kian, but the addition of Ellie’s guitar and the luscious drums from Marshall throughout pumped it up it some, the song really ramped up as it progressed, with Freddie’s vocals really soaring toward the end.
A cracking bass and drum intro took us into ‘Virulent Beast’ another calm then loud song, the guitars really came through so clean and clear in the songs mix, I should have looked at what the pedal set up’s were, but by this song I was firmly sold on Bighead, the song ended on a full on guitar and drum frenzy, Ellie hunched over her guitar with her hair swaying down.
Freddie took the chance to introduce the band and mention the merch stall and then told us he understood we might not be familiar with their songs, so they were going to play a cover that we might know, that cover was ‘Love Song’ by The Cure. It was a great cover, instrumentally way more beefed up than the original and you could see the band having fun as Ellie and Freddie exchanged smiles. It was a nice addition to the set, but personally I think their own songs were much stronger.
With only a couple of songs left Freddie told us they gig a lot in Brighton so keep an eye on the socials for when the next gig might be. The final two songs were the moody but magnificent ‘Silver Tongue’ from their recent EP. Each song seemed to trump the last one played. I loved this with all guitars at the end, before slowing down and Freddie slowly singing Nancy Sinatra’s ‘These Boots Are Made For Walking’ over the very end. ‘Medola Yard’ was the closer, a more up tempo, loud and lively song, with all three on guitar throwing themselves about.
You can see how all the years of playing together has paid dividends for Bighead, the band really gel well together, confident and assured in their playing, it didn’t take long for the room to fill up as the set got going (and so it should!), sound wise it was a really strong performance, all great songs, well written. They surprised me as they were heavier than I had expected as my only reference beforehand were YouTube videos. I really enjoyed it and definitely am going to make sure I catch them next time, sadly their merch stall had gone by the time I came out after watching Pastel, but I’ll make sure I visit that first time next time round. Bighead have a couple of shows lined up for the Alternative Escape in May, so keep your eye on their socials for venues and dates.
Bighead:
Freddie Brindle – vocals, guitar
Ellie Hart – guitar
Marshall Tyce – drums
Kian Ramsey – bass
Bighead setlist:
‘Rocky’ (unreleased)
‘Oh Lover’ (2025 single)
‘Model’ (unreleased)
‘Just Say When’ (unreleased)
‘Virulent Beast’ (from 2025 ‘Submerged’ EP)
‘Love Song’ (Cure cover)
‘Silver Tongue’ (from 2025 ‘Submerged’ EP)
‘Medola Yard’ (unreleased)
