Nieve O’Donnell
Originating in the late noughties, Alt-J are synonymous with early indie music. Their organisation of different sounds have become a well-known, almost cult-like motif, winning the group the prominent Mercury Prize for their first album, ‘The Awesome Wave’. The release of new album, ‘The Dream’, sees Alt-J maintain their standard convention of unstructured but innovative songwriting, whilst creating a record that their already-established fans can find a dose of nostalgia in. Nieve O’Donnell attended Alt-J’s concert, and reviews.
Stopping by Rescue Rooms for a quick beverage before heading in, we conversed about all of the possibilities and expectations of the gig – the set could focus on their new music, or prioritise their older stuff. To our joviality, the set was as diverse as the crowd that filled out Rock City’s main stage. Entering Rock CIty’s main room with The Chemical Brother’s Hey Boy, Hey Girl, told me most of what I needed to know for the remainder of the evening; Alt-J wanted us to have a bit of a party. With many nostalgic fans in the room, candles lit up the back of the stage for Bane as second track, Every Other Freckle, brought the party back as heads bobbed up and down.
Although Alt-J are known predominantly for their recognisable assemblance of sound, their stage display was also a focal point of their performance. Tesselate’s shark imagery was fairly foreboding, whilst the static display which lit up Chicago – a stand out track from the new record – ensured that the performance lived up to the track’s crescendoing introduction. Consistently, the stage was lit up in different colours, matching the atmosphere curated by each song and, sometimes, providing a small gasp where the audience was particularly surprised.
A song that is clearly about admiration
Hands were up in the air for Matilda, a fan favourite from ‘An Awesome Wave’. Being the band’s reason for the Mercury Prize, the set was full of fan favourites from ‘An Awesome Wave’ whilst not being sparing with Alt-J’s newer stuff. Some couples in the audience shared a moment of affection during a song that is clearly about admiration, especially in the initial heart-felt and harmonious repetitions of Matilda.
Taro, Dissolve Me and Fitzpleasure were also popular ‘An Awesome Wave’ features with the audience, especially after guitarist, Gus, emphatically requested the crowd to ‘show us that rowdiness that Nottingham is famous for.’ This was happily embraced and Nottingham’s crowd continued the party.
Hard Drive Gold was an unexpectedly popular track off the new album
At the beginning of the encore, the Ukrainian flag lit up the stage as Gus also noted how we should all do our bit to show solidarity. With that, the encore began. Hard Drive Gold was an unexpectedly popular track off the new album, and appropriately scored a place in the encore. With other favourites, it was well-placed alongside Left Hand Free and Breezeblocks. Reminding us of our earlier years, Alt-J managed to make a night that was nostalgic whilst forward-looking.
Nieve O’Donnell
Featured image courtesy of Alex Watkin. Permission to use granted to Impact. No changes were made to this image.
In-article images courtesy of @unrealaltj via @instagram.com. No changes were made to these images.
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