An Awesome Wave Tour @ Shepherd’s Bush Empire, London 18.01.13

Alt-J’s first gig of the year see’s the indie band, last year’s winners of the coveted Mercury Music Prize, perform in a somewhat smaller setting than they deserve; seemingly striving from strength to strength the band have already sold-out two nights at the six-thousand capacity of London’s Brixton Academy later in the year, so the lucky audience tonight will no doubt be the last to witness the band in a smaller setting such as tonight’s venue.

The enjoyment of tonight’s performance rests largely on your opinion of their debut album, An Awesome Wave. Tracks from their aforementioned debut album are aired tonight and played with such a precision that there is little difference when comparing the live versions to those found on the studio album. The crowd tonight are obviously appreciative of the album then, as with the opening chords to each song, there is a suitably large cheer, the largest reserved for the singles, ‘Tessellate’, ‘Matilda’ and ‘Breezeblocks’. Indeed, it is these songs that inspire the crowd to have a somewhat awkward and arguably, out of place sing-a-long – however the majority of the audience join in without the band encouraging them to do so, a sign of the fan’s appreciation to hear these songs live.

A plethora of lights adorn the set behind the band, adding a visual ambiance to the night; the bands sound perhaps personified in their unexpected cover of Kylie Minogue’s ‘Slow Dre’ – transforming the original’s pop and pounding disco beat into a slow, keyboard-led track complete with Joe Newman’s deep vocals. The set concludes with album-closer ‘Taro’, the audience leaving after having witnessed a band that will be playing far bigger venues in the future. ★★★

Setlist

Intro

❦ (Ripe & Ruin)

Tessellate

Something Good

Dissolve Me

Buffalo

Fitzpleasure

Slow Dre (Kylie Minogue cover)

Matilda

Bloodflood

Ms

Breezeblocks

–

Hand-made

Taro