Dublin’s Pillow Queens are back, and they’ve brought us the anthem we didn’t know we’d been waiting for: Be A Big Girl. Forget the patronising playground taunt it sounds like — this is no “chin up, don’t make a fuss” number. Pillow Queens have flipped that script, reclaimed the phrase, and are roaring it back at the world.
“I think people expect ‘being a big girl’ to mean keeping your chin up, not making a fuss, and politely ignoring the fact you’re being shoved towards the door. For us, it’s the opposite. It’s staying exactly where you are when you’re told to leave, making a fuss, and taking up more space in the process. Living in Ireland, making music here, and not hopping on the first flight out is already an act of stubborn optimism. And yeah, sometimes you’re crying in Lidl or planning a better life in Australia, but at least you’re still standing. That’s the kind of ‘big girl’ we’re interested in being.”
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The track itself is raw and urgent, with Daniel Fox’s production (yep, the wizard behind Gilla Band, Sprints and Lambrini Girls) giving it teeth. It’s part howl, part hug — a reclamation song that thrums with exhaustion and defiance in equal measure. You can hear the tension in every note: beaten down but still standing, bloody but unbowed.
The Queens have always had a knack for turning vulnerability into power, and here they nail it again. Cathy, Sarah and Pamela sound sharper and more locked-in than ever, their harmonies ragged but unshakable, their message clear: if you’re tired of being told there’s no space for you, make space anyway.
And if that wasn’t enough to get excited about, they’re taking this message on tour with indie big boys Lord Huron, playing to arenas across Europe before a huge homecoming show in Dublin’s National Concert Hall this October. Imagine 50,000 people screaming “be a big girl” back at them — that’s the kind of world we want to live in.
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Pillow Queens | 2025 Tour Dates
Mon 01 Sep – Utrecht, Netherlands – TivoliVredenburg*
Tue 02 Sep – Eindhoven, Netherlands – Stichting de Effenaar*
Thu 04 Sep – Oslo, Norway – Sentrum Scene*
Fri 05 Sep – Stockholm, Sweden – Annexet*
Sat 06 Sep – Copenhagen, Denmark – Poolen*
Mon 08 Sep – Berlin, Germany – Tempodrom*
Tue 09 Sep – Warsaw, Poland – Stodola*
Wed 10 Sep – Vienna, Austria – Gasometer*
Thu 11 Sep – Zurich, Switzerland – Halle 622*
Fri 12 Sep – Vernon, France – Rock in the Barn (festival performance)
Sat 13 Sep – Paris, France – L’Olympia*
Sun 14 Sep – Utrecht, Netherlands – TivoliVredenburg*
Mon 15 Sep – Cologne, Germany – E-Werk*
Thu 18 Sep – Bristol, UK – Bristol Beacon*
Fri 19 Sep – London, UK – Eventim Apollo*
Sat 20 Sep – Glasgow, UK – O2 Academy Glasgow*
Sun 21 Sep – Manchester, UK – O2 Apollo Manchester*
Tue 23 Sep – Edinburgh, UK – Usher Hall*
Wed 24 Sep – London, UK – O2 Academy Brixton*
Tue 21 Oct – Dublin, Ireland – National Concert Hall (headline show)
*supporting Lord Huron
