LIVE REVIEW: Palm Reader @ The Garage, London
“It’s been a very fucking tumultuous two years”, says PALM READER frontman Josh McKeown. He’s not wrong, but that’s no secret. We’ve all been through it and we’re now (fingers crossed/whisper it) through the other side and back to enjoying live music amongst friends and family. Tonight is not just a celebration of Sleepless, the band’s stunning fourth album that was released almost a year ago to the day. It’s a celebration of everything.
Getting the party started this evening is PHOXJAW, the eccentric post-hardcore four piece who put out the fantastic Royal Swan in 2020 as well. Shrouded in mist and washed out by stage lights, the band wastes no time in laying waste to The Garage here in Islington. You Don’t Ever Drink A Unicorn’s Blood is just as devastating here as it is on record, and is a real wake up call to the crowd: you’re experiencing live music again, and PHOXJAW are going to make sure you feel every single note of it.
Sadly, the second half of their set is marred with technical difficulties: at one point in Medicine, the speakers sound as if someone has lit a bunch of firecrackers, and it’s a distracting removal from an otherwise solid performance. These issues are soon forgotten, as they wrap the short set up with a flawless rendition of Trophies In The Attic that is as punishingly heavy as it is euphoric, and cements its place as one of the best songs released last year.
Rating: 7/10
Next up is something of a palette cleanser, or “a nice sorbet” as ORCHARDS‘ singer Lucy Evers describes them in the band’s introduction. Their brand of infectious alt-pop is completely different to those that come before and after them tonight, but it’s a fact they’re well aware of, and judging by the crowd reaction, it seems to go down a storm.
Playing just hours before the release of their newest EP Trust Issues, the band play a strong mix of new and old content, ranging from 2016’s Peggy, to the brand new New Shoes. While Evers holds a lot of the focus – her energy and delivery is somewhere in the realm of NO DOUBT-era Gwen Stefani on a sugar high – the rest of the band shines just as bright. The guitar tone in particular washes over you like a warm wave of honey, and bassist Dan Fane’s secondary vocals round their sound out well from being saccharine to being genuine good fun. It’s a vastly different, but not unwelcome set, and there are more than a few new converts in the room tonight.
Rating: 8/10
But the stars of the show are PALM READER. One of the brightest members of the modern metal wave this country has produced, they’ve been champing at the bit to play this celebration of Sleepless. As if the past two years haven’t already been tough enough though, the band’s van was broken into not six hours before they take the stage, a swathe of pedals stolen from them in a service station on their way to loading out. It’s a devastating, brutal loss on what should be a day of joy for the band, but through some miracle (or perhaps just testament to how well loved this band is) they are helped by friends to deliver tonight. And boy do they deliver.
When Sleepless was released, we said that it was “another triumph from one of the very best bands in heavy music today”, and like many other publications and metal fans, it placed high on our year-end list. The only thing missing was hearing it live, and tonight at The Garage, the baying crowd is treated to an incredibly faithful rendition of the album, and one that cements its position as one of the finest British records in recent years.
From the scabrously heavy Stay Down to the tender Islay which is dedicated to guitarist Sam Rondeau-Smith‘s recently-born daughter, the highlights come thick and fast, without much room for chit chat in between. There are interactions, of course, but after pouring their heart and soul into the album, it comes as no surprise that they just want to get on with things.
Typically playing as a five-piece, PALM READER have brought some friends along for the ride tonight and as a result, barely have the space to move on this stage as a seven-piece, but it is testament to how in tune they are with one another that there is nary a collision between a single flailing limb and headbanging body. There are however some difficulties with feedback through Ending Cycle and Willow, which is a shame, but ever the consummate professionals, each band member does all they can to rectify the situation in the moment and continue to contort wildly to avoid each other.
As the Sleepless portion of the evening comes to an apocalyptic end with the phenomenal Both Ends Of The Rope, the band shows no signs of slowing down, and it’s clear that the crowd is not done yet either. The encore that follows is a veritable greatest hits compilation from PALM READER‘s irresistible and enviable back catalogue: Sing Out, Survivor has long been a mainstay of their sets but sounds just as fresh and immediate tonight as ever before, and I Watch The Fire Chase My Tongue sets the pit into a frenzy and sees the first circle pit of the evening.
We are treated also to a triumvirate of tracks from 2018’s Braille including Like A Wave and Swarm, but one track that threatens to steal all focus for the night comes from Internal Winter which is smashed out with earth shattering intensity, and ends the night on an unimaginable high. The growth seen in this band across their four albums has been staggering to behold, but even their old numbers tonight have been freshened up and made utterly timeless.
The past two years have been tumultuous, but the one constant has been that PALM READER is still the best band in the UK right now, and tonight, they made that abundantly clear.
Rating: 10/10
Check out our photo gallery of the night’s action in London from Adriana Vasile here:
