Live Review: Turin Brakes – 15th March 2018 – London Palladium, London, UK
3 min read
A red carpet welcome met Balham boys Turin Brakes tonight as the one-time duo of Olly Knights and Gale Paridjanian turner foursome, with the addition of Rob Allum on drums and Eddie Myer on bass, set their acoustic sights on the eloquent and world famous London Palladium, right in the heart of the capital.
The outfit have, over the course of 17 years, produced enough hits for their enormous cult fan base to create the perfect greatest hits style set but the night was a focus on latest and eighth studio record, Invisible Storm which the band have been promoting since its release back in January.
The night carried an extra special feel to it than other dates because of course, this is the boys stomping ground so a homecoming welcome was provided by the crowd when the lads, with acoustic guitars in hand, emerged to a roaring response from the sold out venue at 9pm sharp.
The evening may have been all about Invisible Storm but there were just enough catalogue hits to get the die hard fans frequently frenzied. The bands debut album, Optimist LP was given its fair share of the spotlight within the set with signature hits Painkiller and Underdog receiving their deserved slice of acclaim from the crowd who were more than eager and vocally ready to add their backing to the nostalgic classics while meaty renditions of the gutsy Slack and State of Things were given standing ovations from the audience; the latter having the crowd shouting for its arrival early on in the evening.
Being a homecoming show for the lads meant that the band had a number of friends and family present; Gale shouting out a hello to his children who were sitting in the stalls and gazing up at their father who mastered intricate guitar solos on additions like the opening Would You Be Mine and Everything All At Once while Olly’s impeccable vocal skills shone throughout the entire set; notably on the ethereal Black Rabbit, the melodically chugging Last Chance and Rain City, a track inspired by the capital and containing some serene high notes delivered by the pitch-perfect front man.
While Olly and Gale have always reigned as the predominant and founding members of Turin Brakes, their fellow band members added humour and heart within the set with drummer Rob being sung Happy Birthday by the crowd and his band mates and being presented with a cake on stage before launching into a sentimental Don’t Know Much and powerfully delivered Slack encore but it was long haired and self described wolf of the band, Eddie who provided the show with a number of engaging, audience participation moments as his quirky, confident stage presence washed over the adoring Palladium crowd.
This is a band in a league of their very own. Their musicianship is nothing short of mind blowing as they master instrumentally intricate numbers like State of Things and Invisible Storm, commercial hits such as Underdog, Painkiller and recent single Wait and tender ballads like Don’t Know Much and Future Boy with such ease, precision and tenderness that comes so naturally to only the greatest of musical masterminds.
Setlist:
Would You Be Mine
Wait
Life Forms
Future Boy
State of Things
Rain City
Lost In The Woods
Last Chance
Emergency 72
Pain Killer
Fishing for a Dream
Invisible Storm
Black Rabbit
Encore:
Keep Me Around
Everything All At Once
Underdog
Encore 2:
Don’t Know Much
Slack
::: RenownedForSound.com’s Editor and Founder –
Interviewing and reviewing the best in new music and globally recognized artists is his passion.
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