You want a performance? You got it. However, don’t go expecting any stage-diving, rock’n’roll excess or hedonism. After all, Alt-J are the polite lads from Leeds University who practised songs without bass guitar to avoid disturbing the rest of their college dorm.
The quartet kicks off with the melancholic notes of their album opener Intro. It’s all that the audience needs to hear before cutting completely loose. They’re playing to a packed out Festival Hall where unearthed darlings City Calm Down and Snakadaktal have excelled on warm-up duties.
Weaving mostly through songs from their album An Awesome Wave, they take us through a set list where gigantic songs are alternated with softer moments in songs like Bloodflood and Buffalo (their contribution to the Silver Linings Playbook soundtrack).
Lined up in a row the quartet physically shows us that Alt-J is the sum of its parts. Every member contributes to a sound that exceeds anything the album could ever offer. Lead singer Joe Newman’s inimitable, cryptic and oft incomprehensible vocals and lyrics are clearer than ever before.
Gus Unger-Hamilton on keys lets Something Good build and swell and then gently deflate. He leaves the audience in swaying hypnotism before Gwil Sainsbury on guitar gives an imposing performance of Fitzpleasure. Perhaps the most intriguing is Thom Green’s drum set up. With a cymbal-free kit that’s pimped with bongos, he busts out with his own flair some of the most intricate and delicate drum patterns on songs like Tessellate.
We’re treated to a live debut of Warm Foothills and their ironic mash up cover of Kylie Minogue’s Slow and Dr Dre’s Still D.R.E. After closing with a fierce version of Breezeblocks, they return for an encore complete with an acapella cover of Chase and Drive’s A Real Hero off the Drive soundtrack, Hand Made and Taro.
The overall performance is tight and slick with a raw mastery where some tracks are treated to extended plays. It’s little wonder these guys were bumped up to fill Frank Ocean’s set at Splendour In The Grass.
BY ISABELLA UBALDI
LOVED: Scoring tickets next to Andy Lee.
HATED: The awkward venue.
DRANK: Coopers.
