Years & Years’ Palo Santo Party In London Was Out Of This World

In case you’ve been living under a rock for the past week London three-piece Years & Years have been rapidly taking over the world with the release of their second album Palo Santo, and last night they brought the party to London’s Roundhouse for a show that was truly out of this world.

To get the crowd warmed up Years & Years brought along their close friend and collaborator MNEK whose set was the perfect pre-party to the main Palo Santo show. He performed bop after bop including his new single ‘Colours’ and pop anthem ‘Tongue’. We can’t wait to see what else this singer/songwriter/producer-extraordinaire has up his sleeve.

Next, we were ready to enter the world of Palo Santo. For those that haven’t been following Years & Years’ second album journey, Palo Santo is the fictional world in which the band’s second album visuals all exist, where humans are used to entertain androids. Watch our interview with the band where they chat all things Palo Santo here:

Following on from the music videos, the live show exists in this conceptual world of Palo Santo, and although the songs aren’t fictional (as the band’s frontman Olly Alexander told us, the songs were written based on his own life experiences) everything else about the show feeds into this world.

The band opened with their first Palo Santo single, ‘Sanctify’, and we were immediately captivated by Olly’s signature dance moves. They then went into a trio of Years & Years greatest hits performing ‘Take Shelter’, ‘Eyes Shut’ and ‘Shine’.

A highlight from the show came in the form of their epic break-up anthem ‘If You’re Over Me’ with the crowd belting out every word as if the song had been out for years. More poignantly was the reception to the band’s new album tracks. As of last night, the record had only been out five days and songs such as ‘Karma’, ‘Rendezvous’ and ‘Hallelujah’ got the response of already well-established hits.

Years & Years have managed to put out a record where EVERY track could be a hit, no exaggeration. If this is the reaction after just five days, we’re SO excited to see how they’re received when they hit the road again in the winter.

They finished the main part of the show with ‘All For You’ before returning to the stage with MNEK to perform a brand new track ‘Valentino’ (read everything we know about the track here).

They closed the show ‘King’ and there was an overwhelming sense of community that washed over the venue, as Olly told the crowd to be kind to each other it reminded everyone that at Years & Years show you can be whoever you want to be without fear of judgement – Olly Alexander is the shining light we all need in the world right now.

SET LIST
Sanctify
Take Shelter
Shine
Eyes Shut
If You're Over Me
Karma
Desire
Palo Santo
Rendezvous
Worship
Hallelujah
Real
All for You

ENCORE
Valentino (with MNEK)
King