The boys are clearly still on a high after receiving the prize for their debut album ‘An Awesome Wave’ (which took a whopping 5 years to make). They take to the stage, lit up by a huge delta symbol, with clown-wide grins.
On the night of their Mercury victory, the four-piece were asked how they were going to spend their £20,000 prize. Endearingly, they played right into the hands of the music critics that put them into the reductionist “boffin-rock” category, by announcing they would treat their parents to an expensive dinner.
It’s refreshing to see they haven’t lost sight of who they are in their rejection of a hedonistic rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle. Frontman, Joe Newman, excitedly explains that a group of the band’s friends have made it to the show tonight. He continually seeks out these faces at the end of each song, grinning at them like a proud child in a school play.
When the oddly sexy ‘Tessellate’ gets going, the rest of the crowd top up the band’s gaiety by screaming out what seems to have become a favourite lyric: “Triangles are my favourite shape”. Joe Newman successfully suppresses a laugh and warbles on about sea animals in his distinctively nasal voice. The crowd continue to demonstrate they’ve done their homework by singing the skilfully poetic lyrics of ‘Something Good’ and ‘Matilda’ with Newman.
The surprise of the night comes when the singer announces they’re going to do a cover. The band fuses Dr Dre’s ‘Still D.R.E’ beat with lyrics from Kylie Minogue’s ‘Slow’. This weird experiment works well, and sounds – like their original material – polished and accessible, offering further confirmation of the band’s perfectionist nature.
The band close their hour-long show with the beautiful ‘Taro’, a song that explores a love story between the war photographers Robert Capa and Gerda Taro, who die in different wars but are reunited after death. The band nails the song with their effortless harmonies and sensitive timing.
Alt-J do well at impressing, and you can tell they know they’ve put on a good show tonight despite not displaying a trace of arrogance. They flash the crowd their final grins and playfully make delta signs with their fingers as they leave the stage.
Concorde2, Sunday 4th November 2012
Words by Nisha Bhakoo
Photos by Chris Hutchison