The excitement started as soon as we were let into the venue; the band's legendary merch guy Harry Violent spoke to the crowd in his booming voice as one and as individuals, directing us to put our names on the mailing list and just generally preparing us for the gig. Support came from Baby Strange, a brilliant Glaswegian punk band who are well worth checking out, and the hypnotic psychedelia of Childhood, whose frontman was either incredibly stoned or thought he was Jimi Hendrix. Perhaps it was both.
Moshpits were already going during the first support, started by none other than Harry Violent and Palma Violets' frontman and bassist himself, Chilli Jesson. The crowd were singing football chants and the infamous 'Yorkshire, Yorkshire' chant and someone threw up then danced in their own vomit, it was all good fun.The real fun, though, started when Harry appeared on stage and, like a ringmaster at a circus, introduced the band we were all there for. With a chorus of cheers, Palma Violets took their places and dived into previously unheard song 'Gout! Gang! Go!', a raucous affair which went off madly despite the fact no one knew any of the words. Second was Rattlesnake Highway, the song this tour was named after (The Rattlesnake Rodeo Tour), which got a grand reception of out of tune yelling of the words by the crowd, mainly made up of the sort of teenage boys who like to think of themselves as LADs. The gig continued in much the same fashion, with Jesson and fellow frontman Sam Fryer (but mostly Chilli) bounding around the stage like excitable puppies, and Chilli quite literally screaming down the microphone. There was many-a-crowdsurfer (one of which nearly broke my neck, and who was kicked out after he'd ridden the people waves for a third time), and many-a-moshpit. By the time they played biggest hit yet 'Best of Friends', Chilli had knocked the microphone stand over about four times and jumped on drummer Will Doyle's bass drum once - their tech guy had to stand at the side of the stage in preparation of running on and picking the equipment back up.
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| Invasion of the Tribbles (photo credit Daniel Robson) |
When they came back on (with Jesson shirtless), the Lambeth band played another new song, 'Scandal', which sounded brilliant; gloomier than their first album yet with the same rawness and energy, building my hopes for the quality of their second record. When the song had finished, Chilli shouted his introductions of members of Baby Strange and Childhood, as well as Harry Violent, back onto the stage, and they all had a hand in playing a regular feature in Palma Violets live shows: their cover of Hot Nasties' 'Invasion Of The Tribbles', which is sung in the most part by Mr Violent. Chilli put his bass down and came and interacted with the crowd, unable to do his usual crowdsurf due to the height and distance from the stage of the barrier, before clambering back to join his bandmates and saying one final goodbye.
Overall, the best way to describe the gig is probably that it was a little bit mental. Pretty painful, but incredibly fun nonetheless. I even managed to talk to Chilli, Will, Harry and keyboardist Pete before it and they were super friendly guys.
I urge you, dear reader, if you haven't yet, to see Palma Violets live. They may not be the world's best musicians, but in my mind they are contenders for the world's best live band right now. They are a must-see, simple as that. Written by Molly McGrath
8.9/10
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