Palace at St Pancras Old Church

An actual working church, St Pancras Old Church is the stunning venue that played host to Palace on Sunday. The lights were low and atmospheric, there was incense in the air, and the acoustics were perfect to enhance the well-crafted sound of the band. The church was busy with a crowd full of trendy hats and even trendier beards, and the vibe was set for a mellow Sunday evening, which provided a perfect date night for much of the audience.

Palace have a solid following and the atmosphere was that of a close group of friends coming together to support one another. On introducing Blackheath they even gave a shout-out to a core group of supporters and there was a genuine sense of bonhomie in the room. You got the feeling everyone wholeheartedly wants to see these guys succeed.

Their performance was polished and clean, and it was apparent that they really feel their music. The lead’s vocal was best demonstrated in songs like Lost in the Night where it grew almost weary and meandered a bit, as though it was desperately trying to find its way back to something. We also got a great demonstration on their instrumental abilities on acoustic numbers, with some impressive guitar work, prominent bass and a variety of percussion.

Current single Bitter is an instant crowd-pleaser and the band were certainly confident in it. The slight psychedelic undertones are trance-like, further helped by our religious environs. Tomohawk also had an almost mournful quality to it, which suited our surroundings and put us in a thoughtful mood.

Palace are a band of great feeling – passion abounds – and even on more upbeat tracks like Shark, we were still swimming in emotion.

Yassine Senghor
Photos: Adam Bennett

For further information about Palace and future events visit here.

Watch the video for Bitter here: