It seems bad to start a live review by referencing an artist
that has nothing to do with band playing, but
the first thing that strikes you as you walk into the 100 club is the
similarity in the demographic of the audience, and the overall feeling of excited
adulation, to a Mac Demarco show. But whereas Mac arouses this reaction through
sheer force of personality, Alex Giannascoli, AKA Alex G, does it through the
sheer power of his song-writing. One of the most prolific artists of the past
couple of years, Alex has made a name for himself by producing cool, laid-back
yet truly emotional songs, and indirectly become a ‘generation X’ pin-up for a
swathe of disenchanted indie kids.
Tonight’s set draws from the highlights of his 4 albums,
naturally leaning heavily on recently released ‘Beach Music’ and break-out LP ‘DSU’.
Taking to the stage in a low-key manner, Giannascoli and band faff around
setting up before launching into the one-two punch of ‘Beach Music’ singles ‘Bug’
and ‘Kicker’. Live, he may be shorn of the auxiliary effects and instruments
that permeate his recorded work, i.e. the haunting piano and washy organ are
missing, equally so the daft/genius vocal effects he relies on are not
replicated, but stripped back to a simple guitar-guitar-bass-drums set-up the
quality of his tunes still shines through.
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| This is not a photo from the night, just an example of what it could've looked like, my photographer had to bail last minute... |
The first indication of the uber-enthusiastic nature of the
200 or so strong crowd (which leads Alex to remark "oh my god, you guys are
soooo receptive…" in a quasi-stoner drawl at one stage) is when the frontman
turns to his band and mouths "Black?". This subtle hint is enough for the
super-fans, who seem to outnumber casual watchers at least 3 to 1, to know he
is about to launch into DSU highlight ‘Black Hair’.
An intense performance of sultry ‘Beach Music’ track ‘Salt’
soon follows. On record this is a bit of a 'meh' track for me to be honest, but
live it makes a lot more sense, and the sinister moment when the crowd slowly
sings ‘Don’t. Make. Me. Hurt. You.’ back at G is a weirdly dark communal
moment. A similarly transcendental occasion is reserved for ‘Trick’ tune ‘Forever’-
the audience humming the lead guitar line so loudly you can hardly hear it,
before descending into one of the most up-beat and poppy choruses in his canon.
The problem with releasing around 50 tracks in such a short
period of time is that it gives fans so many tracks to choose from when
deciding their own favourite; contending with members of the crowd making a
case for ‘their songs’ Alex announces "well, we’ve got a setlist so we’ll play
through that ‘cos we worked it out, but then we’ll do an encore and you can
shout stuff you want to hear", which obviously gets a great response.
But as he said, there’s
the business of the main set to conclude. DSU songs ‘Sorry’, ‘Icehead’, ‘Boy’ and 'Soaker' all go down really well, and so does epic (as far as Alex G does epic) ‘Beach
Music’ closer ‘Snot’. The last song of the set is ‘Trick’ opener ‘Memory’, a low-key
yet powerful ending. But this is not really the ending, as Giannascoli makes
true on his promise of returning for an encore.
Fielding manic yells from the crowd, the band take a moment to
collect themselves before performing three rarity tracks then launching into
the crowd-pleasing trio of ‘Harvey’, ‘Animals’ and the moving ‘Change’, whose
painfully beautiful repeated outro refrain of ‘I don’t like how things change’
rolls wonderfully over the vacant space left by the absence of bass and drums.
As the track finishes, it seems an apt closing to an electrifying show, as the
solemn moment this track provides captivates the audience for a second…. Then
the drummer unexpectedly pies Alex with a plate of creamy pudding, inciting
playful cheers from the crowd. And they’re not letting him leave the stage just
yet, insisting on a second encore to which the band duly agrees, performing a
rousing and extended version of ‘DSU’ opener ‘After Ur Gone’.
The show really is now over, one hour and twenty minutes in
which the standard never drops for a second. Alex G truly wins over an audience
so enthralled to him that there was no real need to even win them over in the
first place. Songs, stage-presence and a real connection to his fans- Alex G is
a complete package, and on the basis of this show will surely build on his
recent signing to Domino and establish himself further as one of the most
important indie characters out there.
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