By Andrew Bansal
August 9th 2015, All Star Lanes, Los Angeles CA: Besides the musical style itself, the term “rock ‘n roll” implies a lot of things, and certainly entails the sheer electricity in a band’s performance. Los Angeles-based hard rock quintet Empty Palace embodied this very trait with their set at All Star Lanes in Eagle Rock last Sunday August 9 2015, as they put forth an exhibition of excellently portrayed quintessential classic hard rock, and proved to be too powerful for the venue’s sound system.
Part of a four-band lineup for a free, all-ages event held in the room with the main bar (and not in the same room as last week’s Abyss show reviewed on this website) at the friendly, welcoming All Star Lanes in Eagle Rock, Empty Palace proved to be the loudest and heaviest band of the lot by quite a sizable margin, to the extent that they blew out the power several times during their set, as they were putting immense burden on the PA. So, it was a stop-start performance, but that’s perhaps what made it more memorable, and with their musicianship and crowd interaction, the band made an impact on the audience that was strong enough to hold them captive even during the stoppages.
Musically, Empty Palace presented a brand of Deep Purple worship that hard rock/heavy metal fans can find instant appreciation in. The lead vocals, the keyboard segments, and the three-pronged vocal chorus by the vocalist/guitarist, drummer and keyboardist formed the lynchpin of the Empty Palace sound, while the guitars, bass and drums filled the rest of the space quite creatively. Gibson/Fender guitars and Orange amps lent a vintage vibe to the band’s personality both sonically and visually. But most crucially, the musical arrangements within every song portrayed progressive, dynamic tendencies and kept the audience interested throughout the set. They were granted an encore, and rightly so.
Even though not strictly ‘metal as fuck’, Empty Palace created a hugely positive first impression on this metalhead, and the band comes as highly recommended to all readers of this website. Metal Assault will certainly be on the lookout for more from Empty Palace, hopefully without power cuts.
Empty Palace links: website | facebook | twitter | instagram