By Jennie Book–
Greyson Chance brought his Palladium Tour to The Independent in San Francisco on January 12 and played to a house of devoted all-ages fans. On this final show of his 30-city tour, he kicked the 18-song set off with “Mercury Year” while sitting at the piano, which he went back and forth to throughout the night, moving easily between quiet seated emotion and full energetic stage dancing alongside his two bandmates on guitar and drums.
Chance has already had a prolific career at age 25 after getting started at 12 singing Lady Gaga’s “Paparazzi” to viral fanfare on The Ellen Show. He has seven albums under his belt, and Palladium is the 2022 release he’s been touring, with dates that began in Boise in September 2022 and ended here in San Francisco. With the album name’s historical influence (Palladium is Grecian-themed, not atomic number 46 or element “Pd”-based) it’s full of ballads and bangers, with the title track starting off a quiet love song and morphing into a dancer, and the cut “Athena” a driving singalong about surrendering to love.
With his voice on point and his stage presence captivating, Chance worked through a set filled with not only new Palladium tracks but also older favorites like “Shut Up,” “Yours,” and “Good as Gold.” Chance sometimes sings in a Jimmy Sommerville-like falsetto, which he uses to great effect, with range and emotion that make songs like “Black Mascara” and “My Dying Spirit” extra profound. He talked openly to the crowd about wanting to connect with them, and took time to make genuine contact with his fans in the first rows against the stage. He sang with emotion to a female fan in the front and then said into the mic with a smile, “I don’t even like girls!”
Songs were intercut throughout the set with personal stories and heartfelt pleadings for San Francisco fans to live in the moment, to stay true to themselves, and to promise to keep moving forward and thriving, and in return he promised to do the same. Chance has been quoted as saying that music is his therapy and his sanctuary, and that he’s blessed to be able to share it with his fans, and his sharing delighted one fan in particular, whom Chance brought up on stage towards the end of the night and gifted him the white silky-satin shirt he’d been wearing throughout the tour. The evening ended with a cheering audience and the smiling band taking a bow, and if Chance’s talent is any indication, his fans have a lot more to look forward to in coming years.
Opener Dynamyte played a crowd-pleasing set that included “Headspace” and the Beatles cover “Can’t Buy Me Love,” all while holding a fluffy white Bichon Frisé named Cutie in her arms. When it was time for her to play the drums for several songs, she handed Cutie to her excellent and seasoned keyboardist, who played with Cutie in his lap. Dynamyte toured with Chance in support of her singles and TikTok fanbase.
Jennie Book is a Northern California-based photographer, illustrator, vector artist, and videographer.
Published on January 26, 2023
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