St John’s Church, Kingston
PALACE — 22/09/26
Palace performed to a reverential audience in St. John’s Church, Kingston last night courtesy of Banquet Records, celebrating the release of fifth studio album, ‘Ox’. Find the gig gallery and review below – and an interview with the band coming soon.
Photography by Sophie Wilks
The room filled out in a lovely mix of ages and dynamics, from solo fans to groups of friends, couples young and old, and entire families. Chatter between the rows of chairs and those dotted round the sides of the chambered venue centered on what song had brought those present to the band’s music, and shows and venues past attended.
It’s fair to say that Palace were preaching to the converted with their acoustic set, which spanned nearly every song on ‘Ox’, plus unexpected additions of ‘Greyhound’ and ‘Live Well’. The voices of Rupert Turner and Leo Wyndham blended wonderfully off the echoing walls, most tenderly in ‘Made My Bed’. Though Palace were missing the grounding drums of Matt Hodges, Wyndham carried the set with a noticeable buoyancy, to an intently listening audience.
‘Sing along if you know it, don’t be afraid’ he said, as a handful gingerly joined in. But Palace’s fans seemed more interested in indulging in the guitar-only set in silence, the better to hear the new album in its intimate form. The duo ended with ‘Brown Bread’... and a chorus not quite fit for a church (if you know, you know). Those in attendance will have felt lucky to witness such a raw version of a band, and a performance delivered with such care.