Live Review :: Palace :: St Pancras Old Church, London - Oct 15 2014

Palace

St Pancras Old Church, London

October 15 2014

Words/photos: Linn Branson

Playing the first of two sold out nights at the small historic church nestled in between Camden and King's Cross, saw one of the most shining of new musical talent hold an audience silent - apart from those moments when they were erupting into rounds of cheers, whistles and claps.

Palace, a grand name befitting a band who ably fuse their blues-stroke-soul heart with pop rock sensibilities and a timeless ambience. A ten song set which included several new tracks as well as their full five-track EP 'Lost In The Night' (which is released next week), an acoustic mid-section, and topped off with a cover of 'Wicked Game', showed they have plenty up their collective sleeve to fill 45 minutes.

In vocalist Leo Wyndham Palace have perhaps their key element. Managing to sound erotic, earnest, biting and raw almost all at the same time, it's obvious that he has garnered a little personal fanbase judging by the audible sighs of pleasure and wolf whistles that greeted his announcement of 'Bitter'. Can any man sing that one word in a more sensual way?

While 'Bitter' may be both an EP and live highlight, it had tough competition tonight. The smooth vocals and slower paced, changing rhythms of 'Ocean Deep' works towards a dual guitar end that this and following song 'I Want What You Got' have already come to be the staple Palace focal points; the latter picking up in intensity, with seemingly effortless artistry.

Of new tracks 'Tomahawk' and 'Shark', the former lends itself to vocal harmonies and some particularly intricate guitar work from Leo - whose vocal here also takes on a rawness of pitch not encountered on other songs - which builds to fast, frenetic end. 'Chase The Light' (with an unplugged 'Lost In The Night') provides an acoustic interlude, giving the spotlight to Leo and guitarist Rupert Turner, its simple structure swirling around the flickering candlelit stage.

Lead single 'Veins', drawing on resourceful percussion and fuelled by a blues-rich...'vein', finishes the set proper, but the deafening cheers from a crowd not willing to let this band go without an encore, succeed in bringing them back for perhaps one of the best closers heard for sometime, their rendition of 'Wicked Game'.

Palace. They came. They played. They won hearts - and left a crowd to depart into the rainy night with a warm afterglow of having just seen a band destined for much, much more.