GIG REVIEW: Alphabeat
- Posted on December 6, 2007 5:12 PM
- 0 comments
Band: Alphabeat
Venue: Metro, London
Date: 5th December 2007
Review by Andy Hirst
It was a night of new introductions from my perspective and as far as I could tell that was the case for the rest of the crowd as well, most of whom seemed somehow connected with the music business or suitably trendy enough so as to keep abreast with recent developments within the industry. I had never been to the Metro club before, nor had I been privileged enough to witness Alphabeat; the newest Scandinavian pop act to be causing a stir this side of the North Sea. Their Danish invasion has been a short but sweet introduction to the UK musical community in preparation for a full on onslaught in 2008 which, according to their tour manager will be Alphabeats year (but then he would say that). What I witnessed on the night did not cause me to distrust the tour manager’s words; in fact I would go so far as to hope that he is correct, their infectious brand of pop music certainly has a place in 2008 and beyond.
The early stage time (8.30pm) usually set aside for dreary support acts not destined to enjoy the glamour of headline sets was not on this occasion representative of their deserved status; the heavy industry presence at the venue and their lazy habit of vanishing soon after 10pm required the topsy-turvy lineup and insured that Alphabeat were allowed the coverage and exposure they deserved.
The set time also resulted in a very packed venue from early on which I am sure did the bar takings no harm especially when a can of red stripe costs £3.50. The crowd didn’t seem to mind though and aside from the slightly inflated drinks prices the venue was well suited for the performance, a fair-sized stage and decent sounding PA welcomed a standing area that could accommodate a good 200-300 and the seating areas off to the sides were pleasant enough and allowed reasonable views of the band for those reluctant to head off in to the sea of bodies.
Prior to the gig my limited awareness of Alphabeat was constituted by a glance at their Myspace page and a listen to the tracks featured on it as well as a few vague musical comparisons a friend provided me with. Having listened to the tracks and discovered a rather synth driven sound I immediately made the unwitting comparison to Aqua as fellow Danes and exemplifiers of synth pop. My friend had seen them earlier on their tour and so was a relative groupie compared to the majority of the audience and found them to be worthy of a return visit which was reassured me slightly from my earlier visions of Aqua and Barbie Girl, as did his far more flattering comparison with The Feeling
I think the comparison is a fairly general comment on the pop tendencies of The Feeling rather than any direct resemblance, as in truth they are probably best compared to a slightly more 80s poptastic vision, early Wham and even a bit of Kylie springs to mind. Whist the term “camp” certainly has its place, there is more sincerity to them than that which the genre generally tends to produce whilst at the same time maintaining an incredible sense of silliness and fun. I suppose a more contemporary comparison would be with bands such as Architecture in Helsinki, or perhaps Swedish electro act – The Knife, how much of this comparison is based on geography rather than sound is, I suppose, open to contention. In fact the electro comparisons when made to the live act are a little wayward - I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the heavy bias towards keyboards present on their recorded tracks was merely a pale comparison to their fully instrumented live set up which is far more guitar based and keeps the keyboards to a suitably low level.
As musicians they are competent if not particularly virtuoso in their songwriting, as a band they are tight and melodically they are definitely catchy so really there is very little you can fault them with. If pressed for criticisms I may sat that the female lead singer whilst looking rather cute may be a little too timid as a front person and her stage movements seem a little cabaret or formulaic. However I should remind myself that this is their first UK tour and things like stage presence and confidence come with time. Also, the band as a whole, whilst lacking a super cool demeanor are still very charismatic and continually seem to be enjoying themselves which too many bands these days fail to do. The vigor with which the male singer was hitting his tambourines at one point caused them to break, not necessarily the rock and roll excess of an instrument smashing session worthy of The Who, but certainly a testament to their genuine love of performing. Infact I failed to see even the semblance of a frown of any of the band and most of whom were singing along to every song whether or not they had a microphone in front of them..
I would like to say the rest of the bands on the night provided a suitable encore, however after only 20 minutes of their rather short set, Alphabeat left us in the less than capable hands of King Jack. They were certainly a competent enough band and the lead singer had a sort of Liam Gallagher-eque swagger to his routine that perhaps Alphabeat were lacking; however the dreary indie songs they performed soon chased me out of the venue in search of a place where Red Strip does not cost £3.50 a can. For those interested to know where such an establishment can be found in central London, The Crown on New Oxford Street serves a very reasonable Sam Smiths Lager for a mere £2. However this isn’t a beer review and as I have no more musical comments to provide you with I shall leave you with nothing more than a recommendation that you go and see Alphabeat when they return to London next year.
Related links:
Alphabeat tickets on Seatwave.
Check out our Alphabeat interview.
Alphabeat's official site.
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