Opening the show was beaux, who told us that his debut album I Thought We’d Live Forever is out in two weeks' time. His set was made up of a variety of songs - both released and unreleased - that will appear on the tracklist of the album.
The Surrey-based artist, who signed to Dirty Hit following a chance Instagram DM half a decade ago, makes a strain of alt-pop that would fit right into a coming of age movie. Unsurprisingly, it was a hit with the crowd, especially given the relatively young audience at The Bodega.
Sunday (1994) may have only released their first song last year, but selling out the venue on their first visit to Nottingham was no trouble for them. From one glance the crowd, you could tell how dedicated their fans are, with many having coordinated their outfits and make-up to match the band’s own aesthetic.
With two EPs to their name - 2024’s self-titled offering and 2025’s Devotion - the band have met the appetite of their fans with a consistent stream of new music. This gave them a wide variety of tracks to pick from when curating the setlist, in comparison to the number that most bands have at their disposal only a year into releasing music.
The first four tracks of the setlist (Blonde, Stained Glass Window, TV Car Chase and Our Troubles) were all taken from their first EP, but the crowd showed no signs of uncertainty when songs from Devotion were brought into the mix a little later on. The lead single Doomsday wasn’t included, but the title track, Rain and Still Blue all appeared on the setlist.
The latter is a sequel to Blossom, a deluxe track from their self-titled EP which came towards the end of the set and saw vocalist Paige Turner hold up a sign that said “You got it, baby,” mirroring the song’s lyrics.
A few songs prior, the band introduced themselves, with guitarist Lee Newell accusing Nottingham of being too polite and requesting that we shout “f**k you” a few times, just to prove that we could be rude upon request.
Of course, the band had to conclude the set with Tired Boy - it is, after all, their most popular song to date, and it also happens to be the first song they released. The entire set generated a good response from the crowd, but nothing compared to this song. It’s clearly a fan-favourite, and will likely be a song that they perform for the rest of their careers.
This transatlantic duo have undoubtedly had a meteoric rise in the past year, but the history that Turner and Newell have is clear from their chemistry - the result of writing songs together for over a decade.
Showing no signs of slowing down, it was a slight surprise that they weren’t headlining Rescue Rooms this time around - there are rumours of a show there later this year and it seems certain that they’ll be back in venues when they return to the UK next time.
Sunday (1994) performed at The Bodega on 20th May 2025.
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