Palma Violets Gig Review

Palma Violets

Having released a brilliant debut single "Best of Friends" and making the cove of NME last month, Palma Violets have become one of the most talked about new bands of 2012. When my friend told me she had tickets to see Palma Violets, I did think "who?" but ever since they have been in my face 24/7. One of the first things that hit me about PV was how catchy their debut single was. I have to say the first time I heard it I did think that they were just another indie band but the more I listened to it the more I fell in love with it - it really does get stuck in your head if your not careful and you find yourself screaming "I WANNA BE YOUR BESTFRIEND I DON'T WANT YOU TO BE MY GIRL!!" in fairly inappropriate place (for example: over Sunday dinner or during "Downton Abbey"). The more I listened to PV the more excited I got about their gig.

The venue wasn't what I was expecting because it was in the Scholar @ Leicester O2 Academy instead of the actual stage but it was a nice venue, it felt very laid back because it was basically the University's student bar and in the next room people were playing poker and playing piano in practice rooms. They're were three bands in total making the gig very good value for money.

Unfortunately, I can't remember much about the first band apart from they were a Leicester band who were very loud, didn't put breaks in their songs and their drummer looked just like my English teacher. They were a decent band and did about a half an hour set all in all. It may have just been were I was standing or a bad technician but I couldn't hear the lead singer that well but it was clear to me that they liked their heavy guitar and drum beats.

Childhood

Childhood were the next band to come on and they were very good! The lead singer seemed completely wasted saying things like "If this barrier wasn't here, I would come and kiss all your faces...". They had a slightly dreamier feel about them, they were very calm and relaxed compared to the first band but still kept the audience entertained with smooth guitars. I didn't know Childhood were playing and it was the first time I'd heard them at all never mind live. As first impressions go, they made a very good one - I even considered buying a t-shirt but the promo guy was a little bit overenthusiastic for me. I think the lead singer was chuffed when the audience started chanting at him "ARE YOU HENDRIX IN DISGUISE?" when he was setting up one of PV's microphones before their encore. One of the things I like about smaller bands is that they make the most of their gigs. Whilst childhood were on, Palma Violets were in the audience enjoying the gig as much as everyone else was and helped Childhood when the microphone fell over. Whilst Childhood were on their was a real sense of togetherness between the audience and the bands.

Onto Palma Violets. When PV came on, as you would imagine with any other band, the crowd went a bit mental. Unfortunately because I'm quite short, I couldn't see much of the band because of drunk students jumping up and down and trying to get on stage but this was actually quite a good thing because it gave me the opportunity to focus on their sound not their image. Overall, their sound was very good, you could argue that they were a bit like any other indie band these days but there was something I can't put my finger on which gave them a bit of an edge, they sounded a bit like the Vaccines vocals wise and for me the guitar wasn't anything special in terms of originality but had a little something that made them fresher than some of the indie bands out there at the minute - thinking about it, I think it may have been the use of synths and FX through out the gig.

One of the best things about the gig was the atmosphere. I felt very comfortable at the gig, there was a range of people, whether you were a teenager or a middle aged balding man, all there for different reasons but there to enjoy a night of good music and a bit of a laugh. You had the mental diehard gig lovers trying to get on stage and picking a fight with everybody who bumped into them and then you had the people who were there just to listen standing nearer the back like there is at any other gig but all in all it was just a good laugh.

Overall, the gig was a very good gig. For £7 you're not going to argue with seeing three bands, one of which is one of the biggest new bands of the year and two very good other ones. The atmosphere was good and nobody took themselves too seriously and so would mix with the fans without a body guard or whatever. If you ask me, I'd say your an idiot if you don't go and see Palma Violets now when they are asking so little for a ticket because I do honestly believe that once they have released an album or two they will be huge and will be asking way more for you to see them and if they're not a success and they're just another band that the magazines are chewing up and spitting back out then a night out for under a tenner is good value if you ask me so what have you got to lose?

To get information on Palma Violets future gigs, click here.

I apologise that this post is nearly a week late, I never had the chance to sit down and write it down properly but it's here now!!