Palisades Announce Breakup, Will Welcome Back Former Singer for Final Show

The New Jersey post-hardcore band Palisades, who spent a decade recording for the punk and metal outpost Rise Records, have announced their breakup with a final show in their home state next month. Former longtime Palisades lead vocalist Lou Miceli Jr. will return for the last performance.

The group and Miceli Jr. split in 2021; he had contributed to all of Palisades’ studio albums up to that point. Bassist and co-vocalist Brandon Elgar supplanted Miceli as the outfit’s lead vocalist for 2022’s Reaching Hypercritical. He parted ways with the band late last year. Their final Palisades show will take place at House of Independents in Asbury Park, New Jersey, on Feb. 25. Get tickets here.

“Twelve years,” Palisades say in a message on social media this week. “Five friends. One last show. Words can’t describe what this band has given all of us but we’re gonna try. Palisades was the vessel for all of our wildest dreams. We strived to write music that made you feel something, whether that was dancing around having fun or having eyes welled up with emotion from something you were going through. We saw the world and got to see places we never thought we would have.”

They continue, “More importantly we made a connection with all of you. We got to share our stories with you through music and you shared yours with us at every show.”

Palisades explain they “wanted to bring two influential pieces of Palisades history back with us to say goodbye one last time. So please come join us as we close this chapter.”

The band adds, “This one is for all of you, our family. For the ones who watched us from the very beginning in Jersey to everyone all over the world. For the ones who turned on the radio or heard us on the internet. For the ones with tattoos of our lyrics and logos. For the ones who made custom jackets and merch. For the ones who drove or flew to every show, only saw us once or never at all. This one’s for you.”

In December 2021, Miceli said it was “with a heavy heart I have to say that my chapter with Palisades has come to an end. … We are all still friends and this was a hard decision.” On Wednesday (Jan. 11), however, he remarked that he was “happy I get to close this out with my brothers.”

Palisades formed in Iselin, New Jersey, in 2011. After albums such as Outcasts (2013) and Mind Games (2015), Elgar replaced early bassist Brandon Reese in 2016. Palisades released a self-titled album in 2017, followed by 2018’s Erase the Pain.

Palisades Announce Final Show – Jan. 11, 2023