With many months spent during the past few years on tour, honing their live shows, it seemed this experience came in handy for Melbourne sextet Alpine last Friday (3 July); where not even a power cut to the sound system could blow them off course.
Playing at The Triffid (a great place for taking in live music), the technical glitch came with only a handful of songs remaining in their set, and while it was dealt with quite quickly it can’t be denied the sheer good-natured charisma of front women Lou James and Phoebe Baker made the time pass quickly. Already a quirky and theatrical presence on stage, they somehow ended up leading the crowd in an a capella version of DJ Otzi’s ‘Hey Baby’ and for Baker, singing into her shoes.
Click here for photos from the show.
Whether by accident or design, when the power returned, the band stormed back with a rendition of ‘Gasoline’ – one of their standout tracks from their debut album, ‘A Is For Alpine’ and continued to build on their blanket of sound.
Although mostly serving up glimmery-guitar pop, many of their songs can be quite textural in their structure, particularly new material from sophomore album ‘Yuck’. For the most part, these worked well on stage from the introductory strands of ‘Crunches’, which opened their set to the closers of ‘Villages’ and ‘Lovers’.
Alpine - Image © Lachlan DouglasHowever, the performance of ‘Shot Fox’ from ‘Yuck’ stood out specifically as here the mix did not work quite as well, with the horn-like blasts overpowering the rest of the song and the vocals. In all that, this is a minor quibble in a performance that overall produced some great fun and musical contrasts.
‘Damn Baby’ – another track from ‘Yuck’ which also features some big-band stylings – came out later in the set, but this had none of the same troubles and instead the high-energy delivery paired well with the punchiness of the track.
Alpine - Image © Lachlan DouglasThroughout the night, the dual vocals of Baker (who remarkably was affected by bronchitis but performed with aplomb) and James were undoubtedly the highlights – and it is meant as a compliment to say you hardly noticed the rest of the band.
Tight in their delivery and content the dynamic duo out front hold the spotlight with their vocal interplay, with the whole band thoroughly enjoying their time on stage.
On this night, Alpine had brought fellow Melburnians Olympia and Pearls in tow, and earlier in the night they set the tone for the sounds to come. Pearls, with their boy-girl vocalists, built into their set and sounded better when showing off their new, rockier and presumably Blondie-inspired direction – with new song ‘Big Shot’ proving a great way to close out their set.
Pearls - Image © Lachlan DouglasThe Australian leg of Alpine’s ‘Yuck’ tour will continue throughout July – culminating in their appearance at this year’s Splendour In The Grass.
Click here for photos from the show.
