On the 29th November, I was blessed with a blissful, sonorous soundscape. I went to see Palace for the penultimate concert of their tour at Birmingham Town Hall. This London based band has been my top pick since stumbling upon them at Boardmasters Festival in 2022, and ever since they have been making tracks that will forever be special to me.

It was a venue that the band and myself had never visited before, with balcony seating and a large standing space. Upon entry we were greeted by attentive stewards from the Town Hall and B:Music, and a merchandise stand. It was merch-galore with a variety of choices ranging from signed posters, LP’s and Album Cover Art, to high quality hoodies, tour t-shirts, and tote bags. After treating ourselves to some merch we ventured into the concert hall and were suddenly bathed in deep blue atmospheric lighting.

The support act Chartreuse took the stage promptly, and a night of beautiful music began. The four-piece band were the perfect opener for Palace, setting the atmospheric scene through their balance of music and audience interaction. The lead singer, alongside a joint pianist-vocalist, created lush harmonies in my personal favourite song of their set ‘Never to Be Real’ off of their 2023 album Morning Ritual. They expressed their grateful nature towards the crowd and the city of Birmingham, stating that they were back on home terrain.

Following Chartreuse was a short break where the buzz of the audience only grew in anticipation. After a striking lighting change with spotlights warming up, chatter and a few more beverages the Town Hall had to offer, Leo Wyndham, Rupert Turner, Matt Hodges, and Harry Deacon took to the stage as Palace. It was an intensely emotional experience for myself and the fans around me as Palace shared this heightened state with the audience. Wyndham shared that the last Birmingham concert they played was in the small venue ‘The Hare and Hounds’, going from an audience capacity of 250 to over 1,000 in the Town Hall. Although this was the Ultrasounds tour, the band played tracks such as ‘Gravity’ from their 2022 album Shoals. As this track played, hues of green and purple flooded the space, mirroring the album cover art and elements of nature that are mentioned within this track. The layering of instruments for each song created a depth of sound, and we were all surrounded by the guitar melodies during the emotional track off the latest album, Son.

The concert was truly picturesque, as couples held one another and friends swayed together in this positive and safe atmosphere. The biggest moment of audience participation had to have taken place during my favourite song ‘Heaven Up There’. Immediate silence settled upon the audience as we awaited the opening lament of the guitar. With each chorus came a beautiful sound from the audience as everyone shared this moment together, for special but completely unique reasons. Every single layer of guitar melodies was heard in this live rendition, as Wyndham took out his earpieces to hear the crowd supporting him. The concluding encore was brilliant as their guitar technician Ben came and joined the band on the stage for their final song.

Overall, a heavenly evening of top tier atmosphere and musicianship: I thank my February self for being so on it with tickets!

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