It’s always a bonus when you book a gig and the support band is also a favourite of yours, and so it turned out on Saturday with the fabulous Slow Club first up at the Apollo.
With only a half an hour slot, the band played songs from most recent album Complete Surrender, starting off with Tears, instantly showing off Rebecca’s fabulous singing voice. One thing to note however was how dimly lit they were, even when introducing the band Rebecca suggested the bass player was in the shadows.
Is it the venue or the band themselves who are responsible for the lighting ?? From row G, upper circle of the 3500 capacity Apollo, everyone was in the shadows ! Suffering Me and Everything Is New were other highlights of the six song set, as they said their goodbyes and thanked Alabama Shakes for inviting them on tour.
On came Alabama Shakes 30 minutes later, and the contrast couldn’t have been more marked. A hugely professional stage show and dazzling light show with nine of them on stage for the most part, including 3 backing singers….. (not sure I can remember if I’ve been to a gig with backing singers before…)
Brittany Howard is certainly star of the show, as both front woman, guitarist and huge bellowing voice of the Shakes, and she’s into it straight from the off telling us it’s their final night in the UK and they’re gonna make it count. Clearly they do, and they launch straight into Don’t Wanna Fight from new album Sound & Color. The intensity at which she sings seems to be turned up a notch live, and it's a full on soulful assault on the ears. Future People, first single from the new album is up next, starting as it does on record with the strained voice effect, then almost pitch perfect as per the album.
There’s not a huge amount of banter with the crowd, however an amusing passage is when, between songs, a guy attempts to mimic one of Brittany's screams, which seems to genuinely surprise her. His name turns out to be Eric, and she dedicates Shoegaze to him. Nice touch.
Biggest cheer of the night is when they play the fabulous Hang Loose from first album Boys & Girls (although disappointingly they don’t play Hold On from the same album).
Again, on a slightly disappointing note, they leave the stage after only an hour, and an hour and a quarter after coming on stage, and 2 songs for encore, it’s all over.
Never mind, for as long as it lasted it was a fabulous, intense show from the singer and exceptional guitarist Brittany Howard and her backing band.
Keith @kjsmith4082
