Palma Violets are one of the latest of the young British buzz bands to come to our fair shores in hopes of breaking the elusive North American music market. They follow in the musical footsteps of bands like the Libertines, Kaiser Chiefs, and the Arctic Monkeys. Their first single “Best of Friends” is catchy and has the potential to be a summer festival favourite. They’re touring Canada and the US in support of their debut album ‘180’ and this summer they’ll be playing to huge sweaty crowds at a number of festivals all around the world like T in the Park in Scotland, Pinkpop in the Netherlands, the Benicassim Festival in Spain, and Lollapalooza in Chicago. On Friday, May 3, they stopped at Lee’s Palace and played a full-on 45-minute headlining set to an unfortunately humid room full of dancing twenty-somethings.
The sound was a mess from the beginning, but that didn’t stop bassist/vocalist Alexander Jesson from delivering an energetic performance alongside his compatriot guitarist/vocalist Samuel Fryer. Lots of screaming. Lots of loud thumping bass. Lots of crowd involvement. They finished their two-song encore with an on-stage dance party with their friends and just like that the night was over.
Me being the old man that I am, I dread 11:45pm set times (even on a Friday) but they played for such a short period of time I was still able to catch the Sharks score the late tying goal against Luongo and the Canucks. Thanks Palma Violets!