In 2015 I was invited to speak at a digital marketing event during Canadian Music Week in Toronto. While in town, I mapped out the various gigs I planned to see, with the big one being Faith No More during their comeback tour. After Faith No More, I walked to the nearby Hard Rock Cafe, where there was a showcase happening for up-and-comers. One band in particular was hyped up pretty big, and they were set to hit the stage at midnight. Having my camera gear with me and always up for a shoot, I started snapping away. Little did I know that I was capturing a band that was primed and ready to reinvent a genre and ultimately create their own.
What I saw that night in Toronto was three brothers calling themselves Palaye Royale. They had made a name for themselves with their punk rock DIY attitude of doing everything themselves, building their audience, recording independently, and creating a massive buzz. This was a case where the record labels come to them instead of the other way around. Sumerian Records was that label, and as I remember at the time, it was primarily a metal label but starting to broaden its roster.
One could argue they set a precedence for others, including Earache Records with Rival Sons etc., which very likely kept these labels afloat during the dark days of illegal downloads. It’s easy to see why they would be all over a band like Palaye Royale, especially after seeing the show that night. These guys were young dudes, three brothers, who clearly had chemistry playing together, but furthermore, they were fusing two of my favorite genres; glam and early ’70s bluesy rock ‘n’ roll. Not to mention, much of the leg work was already done—they just needed help pushing them to the next level. Enter major record label.
The gig that night was solid, but I do remember them still trying to figure out what that live show looked like for them with the mashup of styles and how they could define this as their own. They could clearly play, and Emerson was quite the frontman, but they were still finding their way. I moved to London the following year and lost track of the band as I fell in love with the UK music scene. Palaye would show up a couple of years later in London, and they had evolved big time. The boys loved the Stones and Faces, but they were busy adding New York Dolls and Bowie into the mix. On top of that, they brought their own sort of heroin chic, DIY punk look along for the ride.
Their debut in the UK was at the Camden Assembly, a 400-capacity pub in London, back in 2017. They would come back the following year to headline the 1400-capacity Koko, a legendary venue and significant upgrade, but they seemed to explode after that. Fast forward to last Friday night at the legendary Hammersmith Ballroom (now called the Eventim Apollo), three thousand fans lined up and packed the venue for the Fever Dream London stop. The stars seemed to align as not only was this their biggest headline gig to date in London but also at the venue where many of the band’s idols and influences played, including the Stones, Faces, and Bowie, who frontman Remington Leith played tribute to with his Ziggy Stardust face paint.
The show was a modern masterclass in the creation of a rock ‘n’ roll category. Palaye coined the term “fashion rock” and invented a new subgenre that’s hard to categorize and impossible to imitate. What started as a love for early ’70s blues rock has evolved into a finely polished, modern glam rock band that seamlessly combines nearly five decades of rock ‘n’ roll and serves it on a sparkly silver platter. Brothers Remington and Sebastian strut frantically across the stage, getting close to the crowd, leaping in and out several times while drummer Emerson lays down the groove from the rear. Guitarist Andrew Martin is a spectacle to be seen as well. This guy is like a cross between Marc Bolan from T. Rex and Andrien Vandenberg from Whitesnake playing the role of guitar god and ’80s excess-infused glam rocker.
Fever Dream was, of course, the focus of the night, with nine songs being played from their latest, but the real highlight for me was the last song of the second encore when they played “Get Higher.” This one took me right back to that time in Toronto at midnight at the Hard Rock Cafe. I knew these guys were onto something, and it was brilliant to be there in the “beginning” and see them at their peak now.
These guys brought the entire package with well-rounded support slots. First up was the Atlanta buzz band Starbenders. Led by the enigmatic Kimi Shelter, Starbenders bring two worlds that collide into one another with the resulting chaos being quite a good thing. Donning a ’70s glam look, yet fused with an early ’80s rock vibe, there’s quite a lot to like here: upbeat songs focusing on straight ahead, 4/4 time signatures and verses building into massive arena-style hooks just begging for an audience singalong—it was a big room to please for their UK debut.
The highlight though was when they took the gloves off for the last song of the set, “If You Need It.” Holy shit, this song is on another level—by far the heaviest song in the set and one of the catchiest tunes I’ve heard all year. This is a great starting point for discovering this band, as I would bet that this is the future for where their sound is heading, and I like it.
The second band on the bill was Brighton’s Yonaka. This was my first time hearing and seeing them, but they’ve been on the scene as the verge of a major breakthrough for the past several years. They were insanely heavy and aggressive at times which I wasn’t expecting, but it was pretty fantastic. They are touring in support of a new single which is also a bit of a new direction for them as well. For the heavy stuff, check out the song “Clique” from the latest, and for their new direction, check out “Seize the Power.” Who knows, it may very well be their time as well.
YONAKA
STARBENDERS
