Better Joy Close Their European Tour With A Dreamlike Night In Paris

There’s a rare kind of magic that happens when vulnerability meets sonic precision — and on Friday night at Supersonic, Better Joy delivered just that. As the final night of ‘Heading Into Blue’ European tour, the Manchester-based band transformed the intimate Paris indie venue into a hazy dreamscape of reverb, raw emotion, and crystalline melodies.

From the opening notes, there was a palpable shift in the room. The crowd didn’t erupt — normally buzzing with the pulse of weekend chaos at Supersonic —  instead, they leaned in. Bathed in soft purple and rose-tinted lights, Supersonic transformed into something between a dream and a diary page. Phones stayed tucked away, conversations faded, and bodies gently swayed in sync with the music. It wasn’t silence — it was presence.

The set leaned heavily on their latest EP, ‘Heading Into Blue’, released March 28th, with standouts like ‘couldn’t run forever’ and ‘waiting on time’ unfolding like diary entries set to shimmering guitars. On stage, frontwoman Bria Keely’s voice was a highlight — breathy yet unwavering, her voice floated effortlessly above the band’s textured instrumentals.

Better Joy’s sound toes the line between shoegaze and post-punk — think the lush melancholy of Mazzy Star colliding with the jangly immediacy of The Smiths. But nothing feels borrowed. Instead, Better Joy is carving out their own emotional frequency, one where you can feel both the ache and the euphoria in the same track.

What’s most striking was the atmosphere: the intimacy between the band and the audience, the way the stage felt like a cocoon, drawing the crowd into Better Joy’s introspective universe. Even the quieter tracks land with impact, particularly the ones where the instrumentation pulls back to let the vocals breathe. The room listened, and you could feel it.

Then came the finale. Bria gently asked the crowd to crouch — and without a second thought, the entire venue sank to the floor. Knees pressed to concrete, hearts suspended in anticipation. And then: release. The beat dropped, and Supersonic rose in unison, erupting into a euphoric, unified jump that felt less like a mosh and more like a moment of collective catharsis.

As the set came to a close, the band snapped a photo with the crowd, capturing the togetherness that had bloomed over the past hour. It wasn’t just a gig — it was a shared experience of softness, vulnerability, and joy.

Better Joy didn’t need grandeur or spectacle to make an impact. Their quiet confidence, poetic songwriting, and emotional clarity were more than enough to leave a lasting impression on Paris. And judging by the glow on people’s faces as they exited into the night, they did exactly that.

Lydia Sedda

@inlydseyes 

Images: Lydia Sedda

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