BANKS brings the heat to Hollywood Palladium

Last Thursday at the famed Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles, hometown native BANKS (Jillian Rose Banks) delighted an energetic crowd of mostly young, mostly darkly-attired fans with songs from her fourth studio album Serpentina plus favorites from prior projects Goddess, The Altar, and III.

Serpentina is the result of a pandemic-enforced break from the constant schedule of touring and promotions, which gave the alternative/R&B artist time to explore and develop the kaleidoscope of feelings and experiences that are embodied in her latest release.

Accompanied by well-choreographed and anonymous (faces hidden behind netting) dancers, the star emerged wearing a lacy black top and gloves. Starting off with new tunes “Misunderstood” and “Meteorite” did not deter the raucous crowd from screaming along to the lyrics: “let’s go to space then to the floor!”

Before moving on to older favorites “Gemini Feed” and “Fuck With Myself”, Banks acknowledged her hometown audience: “Los Angeles!!! You know this is my favorite show!”, met with deafening screams from fans throughout the house, many of whom have been following the artist since seeing her open for The Weeknd on tour nine years ago.

The artist also confessed that putting together setlists for the tour was very stressful, given that she now has a much larger catalog to choose from. “Every song is a child, and you need to pick from them”, she admitted before launching into a beautiful rendition of non-album single “Better”. That particular child proved to be an audience favorite, as it concluded with what may have been the loudest cheers of the night.

A few songs later Banks humorously disclosed that she has struggled with her banter on stage. “This entire tour, I’ve been trying to think of something ‘not awkward’ to say when I drink my water. Now I’m just being oversharing, so you know that I can’t think of anything that’s ‘not awkward’… so full circle it made it more awkward”. Another reference to water followed and became a skillful transition into “Skinnydipped”, proving that talking about bad banter can itself actually become good banter.

Another memorable moment occurred later during “Drowning”, when Banks pre-dedicated it to “everyone who has been with me since Goddess”. The appreciative crowd responded by singing along to every single syllable of every single word, ‘drowning’ (pun intended) out the artist for most of the song.

The evening ended with a penultimate rendition of “Holding Back” and encore performance of “Beggin For Thread”, preceded by a heartfelt thank-you to the audience: “Los Angeles! Thank you!!! I can feel every person in this room and I have so much gratitude.” As the smiling and laughing crowd strolled out of the venue after a little over an hour of intense shared experience, it was apparent that Banks was not alone in that sentiment.