Photos by Ty Hyten
The Scene: Amped up twentys-omethings filled the massive ice-rink of a venue that is the Fillmore Auditorium last Tuesday night when genre-bending English rockers Alt-J returned to the venue with a new album under their belt and the demand for a ticket reaching new heights. In the band’s rapid rise to the top, sparked by heavy blog chatter then solidified by a couple radio tracks and a Mercury Prize, it seemed they have amassed an audience as diverse as the tracks on this year’s This Is All Yours. Stoners, edgy teens, married couples, EDM chicks, hipster kids. They were all there.
Alt-J: In a near even split between tracks from their breakout, An Awesome Wave, and their sophomore album, Alt-J limited their set to a mere seventy five minutes. I suppose any more time than that would have made for a complete presentation of their discography, but it still felt short when the house lights came on.
Opening with “Hunger Of The Pine,” lights panned and created silhouettes of the four band members. They stood stationary and stoic in juxtaposition with a sea of dancing fans and outstretched arms. That ended up being the energy level for whole night, from both groups.
The Gregorian chants and harmonies were as solid as in the studio, though Joe Newman’s nasally lead vocals were often swallowed by throbbing bass and poor acoustics in the giant room. Though syllables went missing, the weaving layers of sound remained distinct and sonically gripping. Drummer Thom Green was the only member to break a sweat, blasting his cymbal-less drum kit and injecting life into the songs both visually and rhythmically.
Some of the biggest crowd pleasers came predictably in the form of the bassy, gurgling “Fitzpleasure,” the sing-along “Matilda,” and “Tessellate.” Tracks from the new album actually fared quite well, too. “Every Other Freckle” felt familiar enough to suck in the casual fan and is a standout enough of a song to be a favorite of fans. “Nara” also felt perfectly appropriate during the four song encore. Perhaps the only song that was a miss was “Left Hand Free,” which felt like a Jimmy Fallon impression of Dave Matthews. It wasn’t due to a poor performance, it’s just a bad song.
Alt-J live was what Alt-J is to me on record – pretty damn good. The band delivered a perfectly executed set, but nothing about the live experience made seeing them something to talk about. Were they worth the $75 that tickets were fetching on Craigslist? Nah. Face-value after Ticketmaster had their way with you? Probably not. Was it worth pushing your way back through an endless cornfield of a crowd after taking a bathroom break, just to return to a spot where, even as an average size male, you couldn’t see the stage over the crowd in front of you? I guess that depends on how tall you are and how many elbows your ribs can take. I think the Fillmore has a way of ruining shows for me.
The short set ended with a four song encore beginning with a killer cover of Bill Withers’ “Lovely Day” and ended with “Breezeblocks” that featured fans singing “please don’t go, I love you so…”
Energy: B+
Musicianship: A
Sound: B
Stage Presence: C-
Lights: A-
Overall: B
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