PHOTOS: The Wombats – Pier Head, Liverpool – 19/06/2025

The Wombats are back in Liverpool, and everything seems the same. Well, it should; they were only here a few weeks ago for BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend. The big events haven’t stopped yet, though, as they’re headlining the first of 2025’s On The Waterfront shows, with arguably the most well-rounded lineup of them all beneath them. There’s a lot of subjectivity in that statement, of course, but where Sting or the final English show of The Wolfe Tones will entice certain groups, the universality of the city’s most prominent indie-pop sons that can supersede any of that. They’re buoyant and accessible, and have amassed a bounty of songs that sound glorious after an evening of beating-down sun.

As for Pale Waves, they’re no strangers to making a massive outdoor stage their own. Blessed with a sunset backdrop for their 40 minutes, a set weighted towards their glistening pop-rock is the easiest sell in the world for this band. Even as the clear sonic outlier (and that’s even with most of their pop-punk era sidelined), they’ve got the command to easily hold their own. Finally, there’s Corella and overpass to tie things together, a pair of the northwest’s fastest indie risers that, on a bill like this, couldn’t be more at home. The fact that they’re both appreciable draws, even as relative newcomers, says plenty on its own.

For a laidback Thursday after work in the summer heat, On The Waterfront’s premiering day offers precious little to complain about, and Faye Roberts was there to catch it all.

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overpass

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Corella

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Pale Waves

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The Wombats

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Photos by Faye Roberts (Instagram)

Accreditation courtesy of On The Waterfront.