Gig: Palaye Royale
In a change to the regular schedule of tech articles and travel stories, this week is about a recent gig worth mentioning as something a little different. Seeing Palaye Royale for the first time made for a great experience, even if entry to the venue was similar to having your teeth pulled.
Venue
The Roundhouse in London is known for its wide range of performing bands/acts since opening and has an almost cult-like following if the rumours are to be believed. I will admit to being impressed by the amount of friends who knew of the venue and have been there at some point, despite it being out of their way.
The venue itself is impressive with the auditorium being something you don't see every day. I can see why the venue is used for more than just bands on tour, given you could enjoy being there during the day for a quieter showing of a stage-based performance.
Unfortunately the only let-down of the evening came in the form of trying to get into the building, with the queue spanning around the block (and then some). It's difficult to pinpoint where things had gone so badly that the opening act of the evening had been and gone by the time I was inside (and the second band were just taking the stage), but I suspect only having two people scanning tickets for over 4000 people would be a good starting point.
Band
Awesome... To sum them up in one word. They were engaging, they stopped mid-song to help someone getting squashed towards the front, their outfits were outlandish (in a good way), and the piano solo at the end just made it. I may be slightly biased as they opened with one of my favourite songs, but either way, it was great to watch and great to listen to (the acoustics were great after the first 90 seconds and some audio adjustment by the sound team).
Photos
Can't attend a gig without getting a food fix
Not completely full, but a really good attendance
Great to see the levels being checked to ensure ears don't bleed
A really good stage show with a mix of lighting effects
A seriously good piano solo before rejoining the band to play the song out
Links