Show Review: Joyce Manor Celebrates 10 Years of Their Debut Album at The Hollywood Palladium
Joyce Manor playing their self-titled album to a SOLD OUT crowd at the Hollywood Palladium.
WORDS AND PHOTOS BY JAZMIN LEMUS
Can I just start off by saying that it felt so damn great to see live music again?!
March 2020 was the last time I attended and shot a gig. It has been a rough time for a lot of us and although we are not quite where we want to be, many people are slowly and safely getting back to one of the things we enjoy: LIVE MUSIC.
Saturday, August 21, 2021 is a day I will never forget. Joyce Manor headlined the Hollywood Palladium and supporting them were Turnover, Tigers Jaw, and Merry Christmas. So many thoughts were going through my head as I walked to the venue: “I’m finally gonna get to see some of my favorite bands and also hang with some friends.” I also felt a lot of things as I walked to the venue: happiness, anxiety, nerves. Happiness because I was going to do something I love to do; attend a gig and shoot the gig. Anxiety because I have not been to a show in over 17 months. Nerves because what if I forgot something that I needed. It happened. I forgot earplugs. Thank you to Erica Lauren for giving me a pair (check out her WORK by the way)!
While being masked up at a gig is something new to a lot of us and it will be standard for a while, every time I looked at the crowd, you could see faces full of smiles, joy, and excitement just by looking at people’s eyes.
Kicking things off was Merry Christmas out of Torrance, California! And while it’s still summer time, there were a lot of merry vibes to go around! The band brought some energy to get the crowd amped up and ready to go for the remainder of the night.
Second act up was no stranger to the audience. Scranton’s Tigers Jaw never fails to do what they do best. The set was full of bangers from their early stuff such as “Chemicals,” “Plank Vs. Tank Vs. Submarine,” to somewhat newer stuff off of spin to even more newer songs off their latest record, I Won’t Care How You Remember Me. The energy in that room was very familiar to me. It’s almost like we never lost it, both the band and the fans. The crowdsurfing was only beginning.
To continue the party, Virginia Beach’s Turnover took the stage and kicked off their set with some older songs of their own. “Dizzy On The Comedown,” “Take My Head”, and “New Scream” were the first three songs the band played, all off Peripheral Vision. They also played some of their other popular songs from other albums such as “Much After Feeling,” “Plant Sugar,” and “Super Natural.” To finish off their set, they finished with some of their other popular, but older songs “Cutting My Fingers Off” and “Humming.” As they finished their set, the crowd was more than ready for the headlining band.
Earlier this year when Joyce Manor announced that they were playing their self-titled album in its entirety, I knew I had to be there! Willing to take whatever precautions I had to take, I wouldn’t miss it, especially with such a great lineup! As soon as the music started, the crowd went wild and there was no going back. The Torrance natives started off with “Orange Julius” and continued onto “Call Out.” Security immediately went to work as everyone in the photo pit did what they could while still watching that no one got hurt while the crowdsurfing took off. One of my favorite Joyce Manor songs is “Beach Community” so as soon as that song started, I started singing while also trying to not lose my voice. As Joyce Manor continued on to play the self-titled album, we all knew that fans would go nuts during the last song off of the album. As soon as “Constant Headache” started, anyone who was waiting for their moment, was about to live it. Honestly, I missed that energy! Seeing everyone go crazy and sing (let’s keep in mind that many fans were still doing this with their masks on). The party continued when the band went on to play other fan favorites such as “Falling In Love Again,” “House Warning Party,” “Last You Heard Of Me,” “Victoria,” “Stairs,” and their cover of “Midnight Service at the Mutter Museum” by Murder City Devils!
As the band got off stage after playing fan favorite, “Christmas Card”, there was no question, that fans wanted an encore. To finish off the night, Joyce Manor returned to the stage to perform “Heart Tattoo” and “Catalina Fight Song”!
I honestly couldn’t have asked for a better way to catch a gig again. I hope we can continue to try to do things as safe as possible so that we don’t go back to the way things were a year ago. Thank you to the bands, crews, managers, publicists, booking agents, labels, venue staff, promoters, designers, techs, and everyone else in the industry for doing your best to bring things back to some type of normalcy. Not being able to engage with other music fans at a show during the last year and a half wasn’t an easy thing. Reuniting with old friends and even making a couple of new ones was super POSI.
