May 6, 2010
Support for Alabama 3 was provided by one man folk band, David Ford, whose effective use of a loop pedal for percussion, rhythm guitar, and vocal harmonies made for a surprisingly layered sound, while allowing him to compliment each tune with a guitar solos, piano flourishes, and sustained blasts of harmonica. David has a strong voice that sounds strangely like a cross between Feargal Sharkey and James Morrison, and although his lyrics were forgettable his performance was emotionally charged enough to ignore any shortcomings in his songwriting. The end result was a small set of tunes that sounded like the hybrid offspring of Mumford and Sons and The Undertones.
Our appetites suitably whetted for the main course, Alabama 3’s musicians swarmed across the o2 academy’s humble soundstage with clear intent. The music began with a simple kick and snare beat, dark guitar grooves, and electronic tweets, showcasing the band's brash, eclectic sound to an overly appreciative audience of arm waving devotees. Next, lead vocalist Larry Love strutted to the microphone - his rock stardom announced through exposure of his pasty, white chest from beneath his unbuttoned, combat style waistcoat - closely followed by Aurora Dawn, whose soulful backing vocals perfectly complemented Love’s dark, gravelly voice.
With such an intentionally laid back image and a wilfully eclectic yet almost old-fashioned sound, it’d be easy to forget just how formidable a collection of musicians Alabama 3 are, to discount their brand of music as dated, but therein lies their beauty; they haven’t so much reinvented the fundamentals, rather they’ve lovingly embraced them, and then added in a few grandiose riffs and electronic quirks for good measure.
Despite their ardent deployment of the old snare / kick formula in every track, with nine musicians Alabama 3’s music is deceptively dense, packed with numerous simple yet well conceived riffs and melodies. Half way through their set Alabama 3 performed ‘Woke Up This Morning’, which is best recognised by the general population as the Sopranos theme tune, but numerous tracks within their set were as strong or stronger, especially those performed during the loudly demanded encore.
Our appetites suitably whetted for the main course, Alabama 3’s musicians swarmed across the o2 academy’s humble soundstage with clear intent. The music began with a simple kick and snare beat, dark guitar grooves, and electronic tweets, showcasing the band's brash, eclectic sound to an overly appreciative audience of arm waving devotees. Next, lead vocalist Larry Love strutted to the microphone - his rock stardom announced through exposure of his pasty, white chest from beneath his unbuttoned, combat style waistcoat - closely followed by Aurora Dawn, whose soulful backing vocals perfectly complemented Love’s dark, gravelly voice.
With such an intentionally laid back image and a wilfully eclectic yet almost old-fashioned sound, it’d be easy to forget just how formidable a collection of musicians Alabama 3 are, to discount their brand of music as dated, but therein lies their beauty; they haven’t so much reinvented the fundamentals, rather they’ve lovingly embraced them, and then added in a few grandiose riffs and electronic quirks for good measure.
Despite their ardent deployment of the old snare / kick formula in every track, with nine musicians Alabama 3’s music is deceptively dense, packed with numerous simple yet well conceived riffs and melodies. Half way through their set Alabama 3 performed ‘Woke Up This Morning’, which is best recognised by the general population as the Sopranos theme tune, but numerous tracks within their set were as strong or stronger, especially those performed during the loudly demanded encore.