I
was always going to catch Alvvays on this tour (pardon the pun) – the first
time this band of Nova Scotia dreamers, with innocent wide-eyed guitars and
dark, unspoken melancholy in their hearts in equal measure, had graced our
shores for 2 years, this time back to push a new album in the forthcoming “Antisocialites”
– but the question turned out to be, where? A September date at “The Dirty
Boat”, Bristol’s Thekla, seemed favourite, and I duly sourced a ticket for that
one, only for Rach to arrange her first sea swim for that weekend, prompting a
potential family weekend away. Oxford’s date clashed with a previously arranged
gig elsewhere (Psychedelic Furs, next week!), so it was down to Southampton, to
a new venue for me in The Talking Heads, which was apparently my friend Rich
Carter’s Uni boozer of choice!
A
solo jaunt for me too, this, so I motored purposefully down the A34, finding
the venue easily and a street parking spot eventually, after a couple of tours
of the locale. Into a small, compact and bijou, and wider than long venue,
already well attended, and greeted by Devo’s “Freedom Of Choice” over the PA.
Had worse welcomes! I soon came to wish they’d left that on, as support
Alaskalaska, on prompt at 8.15, really weren’t much cop; a cumbersome 6 piece,
featuring at least 2 totally superfluous members in their keyboardist and
saxophonist, their songs generally eased in on a smooth, pastoral (and
occasionally darker, more morose) Sundays-like vibe, before unfortunately
developing into more cluttered and over-fussy beasts, recalling poor 80’s wine bar
funk at times, but generally overcomplicated by rude, blaring sax or dissonant
sheet synth. If their songs were 30 seconds long each (!) I might have actually
liked them; instead they just irritated and bored me. Sorry, but Alaskalaska
just left me coldcold…
Alvvays
then set up onstage and I wandered down the crowded front, stage right, in
anticipation of a quick turnaround, whilst the PA then played the Razorcuts’
totally appropriate C86 classic “Sorry To Embarrass You” (31 years old! Older
than most of tonight’s crowd, I’d wager…). Someone’s evidently been doing their
homework…! 10 minutes late, however, bagpipe music and an “Alvvays” flag
projected onto the backdrop heralded the band’s entrance at 9.25, straight into
hard-edged new opener “Saved By Waif”, before Molly remarked, “how’s it going?”
and, “shit! Is that French?” to some clever-dick heckler, before “Adult
Diversion”’s joyous Rickenbacker jangle got the sell-out young crowd bouncing.
A
shame that this tour preceded the release of “Antisocialites”, rather than the
other way around, as the set was replete with new numbers, and it really felt
that each new number was definitely
going to be my new favourite new Alvvays number… until the next one! Whether it
be the herky-jerky new waveisms of “Plimsoul Punks”, the brash, brittle
Buzzcocks-like “Your Type” or the equally snappy, punky bounce of “Lollipop”,
or Kerry’s cinematic keyboards embellishing the plaintive yet really rather
lovely harmonies of “Not My Baby” (which in all honesty will likely be my actual new favourite new Alvvays
number!), every new song was a winner, a subtle yet distinct addition and
extension to the Alvvays sonic template.
The
oldies weren’t bad either! And, true to form, Alvvays did them justice with an
upbeat, blissful and inclusive performance. Vivacious vocalist Molly was in
good quipping form, announcing, “we enjoy being in the UK; you’ve got great
rest-stop food… and lots of sheep!” and telling a story about splitting her
“pants” at Glasgow airport while backfilling a keyboard-prompted technical
break. The breezy “Atop A Cake” got me bopping furiously down the front, and
the undulating riff of “Next Of Kin” was a set highlight, although topped by a
brilliant “Marry Me Archie”, a rousing and lusty singalong bouncing off the
venue’s low ceiling. The pleading melancholy of “Party Police” ended a splendid
set, before a rapid-fire encore run-through of The Motorcycle Boy’s obscure
80’s pop number “Trying To Be Kind” (which I mistook for The Darling Buds!) and
their own, poignant “The Agency Group” closed proceedings.
I
got my Kerry-provided set-list signed by new drummer Sheridan during a chat
about The Motorcycle Boy and The Shop Assistants, before hitting the road for a
midnight home-time. In fine form and with some excellent new material, this
lot, so I was always going to catch Alvvays… and always will!
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