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Palaye Royale at Decca Live (22 Feb 2025)
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The Jacksonville all-ages Palaye Royale show was supposed to be the grand opening for the new venue FIVE, which I would’ve loved to be there for their grand opening… but unfortunately, the venue just wasn’t ready to open (originally the venue was supposed to open in January). All FIVE shows in February was moved to another new venue called Decca Live, which just opened January 31, 2025.
Since the venue is still new (only opened for 24 days!) I’ll talk about the venue. It is near the Jaguars Stadium (EverBank Stadium) and VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena, so there’s plenty of parking meters and pay lots everywhere. The meters are not enforced after 6pm on weekdays or all weekends… so free street parking is great, but it might have a different story on a game night. I parked about two blocks from Decca Live, which is just perfect, in my opinion. Currently, there’s a ton of constructions everywhere in downtown, so anything can change at the last minute.
As for Decca Live, it has a very similar setup to the Fine Line Music Café, in Minneapolis. It’s a long rectangular room, with the bar on the left, and on the right are VIP seating. There’s also a VIP balcony, which offers a good view of the stage and dancefloor. For these kind of venues, if you want a good view and refused to pay for VIP, you need to get in early and park yourself near the stage. There are no barriers, so you will be right next to the band for a great view.
Opening the show, and not on the bill (the venue’s website did not mention three bands), was a band called Rock and Skate. This band from Tennessee, said that they are only on tour with Palaye Royale for six dates, because the guitarist’s brother was a big fan and held up a sign and got their attention. They like what they heard and asked Rock and Skate to support them on this tour.
Rock and Skate ended their set with their new single, “Chemical”. They were pretty good, you can tell they’re very young and was so eager to play to such a great crowd, and perhaps picking up some new fans. The band continues with the tour in Tampa (tomorrow), and ending in Birgmingham on February 25.
Next up was alternative artist Johnnie Guilbert, who had a good amount of diehard fans in front. Apparently, he’s gained a massive following as a YouTuber.
Anyway, Guilbert is a star. The way he struts on stage, the way he interacts with his fans (like taking selfies with their phones for them), or accepting gifts (there was a drawing of Johnnie and one of his fans), this guy is truly a rock star. He played his new single, “Fake Positivity” in the middle of his set, and ended with double Horror songs: “Zombie” (about eating brains) and “Vampire.”
Los Angeles trio Palaye Royale (featuring brothers Remington Leith and guitarist Sebastian Danzig, with drummer Emerson Barrett) closed out the night. Talking to fans in line (which went around the block), I learned that they had a very dedicated fanbase. The last show they performed was in Orlando, which fans was more than happy to do a two-hour drive to the city for the opportunity to see Palaye Royale. So, it was heaven sent that they were playing Jacksonville, and a smaller venue (Decca Live has a 1,000 person capacity). Many of the fans in line already had FIVE tickets, which would be honored at Decca Live.
As you can see from the setlist, the band was promoting their fourth album Death or Glory. The record was named one of Kerrang! Magazine’s albums of the year.
The highlight of their set was near the end, the band had these balloons that dropped from the balcony. That was really fun, unfortunately they all eventually pop.
Again, while it would have been awesome to write about the grand opening of FIVE with Palaye Royale going down in history as the first band to play there… I’m still quite happy that we got to see Decca Live, another new venue. Between FIVE and Decca Live, I suspect that between the two venues, they will be bring in more national acts… which, personally speaking, is much needed for the Jacksonville area.
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