Palace at Brixton Academy

Fresh from releasing their latest album, Palace have embarked on their biggest tour to date, culminating in probably their biggest headline gig in ten years at Brixton Academy. The alternative rock band recently dropped Shoals, a record written in lockdown, and the cover art marked the backdrop here as they dived into almost every song from the track listing. For a whole 90 minutes, the band soaked up every second of bringing this musical chapter to life. They have evidently amassed quite the dedicated fanbase, with the crowd already happily acquainted with every track. It’s an impressive feat, given it was released less than a month ago. As lead Leo Wyndham summed up in disbelief: “This is insane.”

The five-piece brought about a mellow live rock atmosphere that belongs comfortably on a large stage like this. Setting the scene with moody opener Shoals, the setup was typical but with some added synth experimentation; the laidback vibe was sometimes punctuated with more upbeat, heavier drum-led tracks. Older songs Live Well and Bitter felt like fan favourites (with cheers from the very opening note), and new popular highlights included the super-rock Fade and reverb-heavy Gravity. The evening felt most electric when the musicians eased into the instrumental outros and simply allowed themselves to rock out. They were sometimes overlooked by the frequent spotlighting of Wyndham as lead, but his vocals and falsetto were unmistakably powerful and distinct – even better live than on the studio record.

However, the middle act was perhaps a bit too ambient, with songs starting to sound similar. Lyrically, they are usually reflective and existential, but this was unfortunately a missed opportunity as the sound engineering made it difficult to distinguish the words – as well as the instrumental layering. That said, judging by the singing audience, it didn’t matter too much as they knew every song line by line. By the time it picked up for the encore, a rousing anthemic Heaven Up There, it wouldn’t have been surprising if half the room walked away with lost voices. 

Palace certainly delivered what they planned to, cementing the fact that their latest release is just as loved as their first two with a very royal welcome. “You’ve blown our minds,” Wyndham told the crowd. It felt like a majestic milestone moment for them, a night they will undoubtedly treasure for a while to come.

Bev Lung
Photos: Virginie Viche

For further information and future events visit Palace’s website here.

Watch the video for the single Friends Forever here: