Gigs are a bit like buses at the moment, you go through a quiet spell because of various lockdown measures and Christmas and then all of a sudden, you have 3-4 lined up and you’re just not ready for them, I know I wasn’t! Tonight was one that I had been looking forward to for a while, I classed it as a double header as the two acts have firmly been on my radar for some time and to see them share the same stage on the same night was beyond exciting. Opening the night was Billie Marten before Palace took over to bring down the curtain, was it as fulfilling as I longed for it to be? read on to find out….

Billie Marten is somewhat of a musical alchemist in my eyes, her critically acclaimed debut album ‘Writing of Blues and Yellows’ was released back in 2016 when she was just 17 years old, this was deftly followed with her sophomore release, ‘Feeding Seahorses by Hand’ in 2019 and most recently, her third long player, ‘Flora Fauna’ which blended those signature hushed, resonant vocals with a rapid pulse and rich instrumentation.

I was asked by a young couple ahead of her set, how I would describe Billie Marten’s musical output and I replied by saying, “If you were on your way to pick up a pint of milk and you saw a lovely doggo, tied up outside the shop, you naturally think about petting the dog (I know I do…), you bend down and extend your hand and the cute doggo suddenly bares its teeth and starts to snarl, THIS is how I describe her sound. Sometimes, what you see isn’t necessarily what you get and in the case of Billie Marten, you may think that you’re going to hear a set full of folk inspired ditties but instead, you get a dose of upbeat electric infused indie folk which truly takes you by surprise in a very pleasant way.

Her sound is bright, punchy and tight and flanked by a solid rhythm section that help to keep the train chug chug-chugging along whilst Billie and her guitarist duel it out, her keeping the rhythm alive whilst he goes at the solo section hammer and tongue with his orange Stratocaster with all the gusto of a dog with two dicks (sorry, lame dog pun but you get the gist).

I recall chatting to her ahead of her set at Boardmasters Festival in 2021, she was performing miles away from the press tent so I went to see her and upon entering her dressing room, I had to wait a couple of minutes as she was midway through a Cornish pasty….nobody would stand in the way of one of them!

Her set was short but oh so sweet, in her allotted 30 minutes, she managed to perform three tracks from Flora Fauna, my fave being ‘Creature of Mine’ which was the track that got me interested in her music in the first place courtesy of BBC Radio 6 Music, three from Feeding Seahorses by Hand and I’m assuming that the other two were from her debut Writing of Blues and Yellows.

The audience were eating from her hand come the end of her set and quite rightly so, she truly is a tour de force and will soon be thought of as something of an English treasure, to be cherished and loved by everyone at all times, as an English treasure should be!

I also see that Mr Jukes (aka Jack Steadman of Bombay Bicycle Club fame) has remixed ‘Liquid Love’ from Flora Fauna and has added his own drum n bass twist to the proceedings, if you do just one thing today, check this track out below….

After a short break to charge glasses and empty bladders, it was time for the main event….

It wasn’t until a few tracks in to their set that I realised I too had chatted to Palace at Boardmasters Festival but this time way back in 2017 (the picture shows (a younger) me chatting to a (younger) Leo Wyndham and another member of the band that I cannot put a face to the name (sorry!).

Fresh out of the oven was their third long player ‘Shoals’, a profound and pensive record, boldly exploring some of life’s greatest questions over its 12 tracks. It was great to see that their setlist reflected that this was a tour to celebrate and promote the new record with 10 of the 12 album tracks getting an airing. There was just one track from their 2019 album ‘Life After’ whilst there were four performed from their debut ‘So Long Forever’. It was nice to see that they included a track called ‘Trouble on the Water’ which can be found on their ‘Someday Somewhere’ EP from 2020.

Their set was a roller coaster of emotions, super tight musicianship and of course, the wonderful falsetto of Leo Wyndham as he cut a path effortlessly through the show. Shimmering lights gave the impression that the stage and crowd were immersed in a massive disco glitter ball and this only added to the surreal experience of the evening. The guitars sounded bright and delicious, I think I referred to the sound as ‘tropical noodlings’ which made me smile as I was tapping notes into my phone.

The crowd were responding well to the new material, which kind of surprised me as it normally takes a while for the songs to settle and I think this is tantamount to the fact that they are of such good quality the fans just embraced them like a new child joining the Palace family.

Come the end of the set, the crowd were on top form, the band were clearly having a great night and if you’re lucky, you can still catch the band as they play out their final UK dates (culminating in a show at Brixton Academy on 11th Feb) before they jet over to the States to play a 21 date tour which includes a show at New York City’s Webster Hall on 5th May.

Live review by Steve Muscutt

Photography by Glenn Morrison (all images are ©)