Music / Reviews
Review: The Pavilion, the Lanes – ‘The start of something’
The UK’s indie scene is enjoying another wave of reinvention.
A new generation of bands are blending huge choruses with emotional honesty, intricate musicianship, and a DIY ethos, resonating with their audiences through authenticity and relatability.
Emerging acts such as Keo, Tooth, Bleech 9:3, and overpass are currently at the forefront of the movement, following Wunderhorse and Fontaines D.C. who seemed to lead the hype, proving independent guitar music to be as vital as ever.
Bristol has long played its part in nurturing the next wave of talent, with its plethora of grassroots venues and local bands. Yet few are cutting through the noise quite like the Pavilion.
The band are crowdfunding to record their third EP
Formed in 2023 and revitalised with a fresh new line-up in 2025, the alt-indie-rock quartet are carving their own niche into the scene, having been inspired by the likes of Catfish and the Bottlemen, the Backseat Lovers and Stereophonics.
While they’ve played across the UK including shows in Cardiff, London, Brighton and Southampton, the band has played frequently around Bristol’s grassroots venues including the Louisiana, Thekla, the Exchange and the Croft, building a steady fanbase in the process.
The support shown was striking when they headlined the Lanes, the crowd showing up and giving their all to the band despite a set of mostly unreleased tracks.
With their third EP in the works, the Pavilion took the opportunity to test out some new material at their first headline show in the city in almost a year.
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Bitter and Slow is chosen to open the 45-minute tour de force, its title misleading compared to the energy it exerts, band members bouncing around the stage with vitality and exhilaration despite the heatwave and rising temperatures inside the venue.
It’s only minutes in, but guitarist Iwan Morris is playing his instrument behind his head.
Older tracks such as Tomorrow’s Dead, a song which has stood the test of time and been a staple in the band’s live set for the past few years, and Window Watching, taken from their debut EP Hydref and complete with an apt-lyric change to “I fucking love the Lanes!” to the crowd’s pleasure, provide fan-favourite sing-alongs.
The energy doesn’t falter throughout
New track Sober Eyes has a classic indie-rock feel, complete with a guitar riff which you can already hear filling packed-out festival stages, while the following track, so new it currently remains untitled, includes a chorus which is already being shouted back by the end.
It’s Science Changes which undeniably steals the show though. Recently released as a demo on the band’s SoundCloud page as a taste for what to expect from their forthcoming project, it has almost cinematic sonics, evoking a sense of nostalgia and capturing the feeling of not knowing what to do with yourself when someone leaves for the last time.
Phone torches illuminate the crowd from the front row to the back. Frontman Rhys Smedley’s vocals are a slow-burn, ultimately leading to the song’s main release: “The science changes love / Like love is changing you / The signs are clear enough for me to see this through / It’s not enough to lose / For me to sing my blues / Home again.”
The band’s headline set feels like a defining moment
The pinnacle of the atmospheric number comes in its final few minutes, beckoning for crowd interaction. Smedley commands the crowd to sing back the ending chant, whilst bassist Dan O’Connor encourages everyone to clap along.
As the frontman turns the microphone to face the crowd, every single voice chants back, causing him to turn to drummer Josh Vallis to share a moment of disbelief. It feels like everything has been leading up to this. It’s the start of something.
Human is one of the heavier moments of the set with its darker, grungier sonics reminiscent of Wunderhorse, the vocals not dissimilar to Jacob Slater’s raspy drawl.
O’Connor throws himself around with reckless abandon, occasionally pausing to lip-sync the lyrics or point towards members of the audience.
The set closes on Normal Folks, a track which is slower on record but reworked for a livelier and more urgent live performance, eventually reaching its climax for one final moment of catharsis.
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Not once does the energy in the room falter throughout the set, and even though the set times were moved to much earlier in the evening ahead of the World Cup the crowd carry the band to the end.
As the screens for the football replace the instruments and fans migrate to the courtyard of the venue, there’s a sense of having witnessed a band on the cusp of something bigger.
It felt like the band are on the cusp of something… – photo: Josh Vallis
The Pavilion’s set was a statement of intent. And backed by strong support sets from local bands Interim and Supermarché, the night showcased the depth of Bristol’s flourishing indie scene, reinforcing the importance of grassroots music for supporting the next wave of independent artists.
It’s clear the band are no longer chasing momentum, but instead something which feels increasingly inevitable. The Pavilion left the Lanes standing on the edge of a defining moment.
The Pavilion are crowdfunding to record their third EP. Find out more and support them at here.
All photos (except where stated): Katie Hillier
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