English rockers alt-J are still riding the wave of their latest album, 2022's 'The Dream', as well as the tenth anniversary of their debut album, 'An Awesome Wave'.
The band were scheduled to tour Australia last year, which was ultimately cancelled 'due to the new and evolving logistical challenges of touring in a post-pandemic world'.Keyboardist Gus Unger-Hamilton says there's been "big financial challenges" involved with touring in the last year, which left the band postponing the Australian leg to "balance the books".
"I think people's appetite for listening to musicians complain about stuff like that is quite limited, but I will say this – it is very hard to make an Australian tour work financially, even when you're at the peak of your game," he says.
"I'm not saying that we are not there, but yeah, it's hard that's for sure."
The band will return in April for a string of rescheduled headline shows including special, standalone gigs in Sydney and Melbourne for the tenth anniversary of 'An Awesome Wave', and will tour regionally for the first time as part of Groovin The Moo, which Unger-Hamilton says he's particularly looking forward to.
"I was looking up somewhere today called Bunbury we're going to, which I'd never heard of so it's very exciting," he enthuses.
"I mean, in Australia you really tend to play the same five cities, but we know there are obviously hundreds more towns there, and I'm excited to be going to see some of them, definitely."
Gus says he's looking forward to the potential to exercise a "new skill" in Australia, if time permits. "I've never explored outside the cities much in Australia," he says.
"It would be cool if we have a couple of days off to maybe hire a car and do a bit of a mini road trip or something like that.
"I'm slightly more confident driving abroad now than I used to be, so maybe I'll try to exercise that new skill."
The headline shows will see alt-J perform in grand theatres and arenas around the world, which gives the band some freedom to perform more experimental sets. Groovin The Moo crowds can expect the best of the band's back-catalogue.
"You can mix in some more down-tempo songs, you can take a few more risks and you can trust your audience a bit more to listen to something that perhaps might not be a really up-tempo song," Gus says.
"But then I think we're also quite lucky at this point, we have four albums worth of material, so we can put together a festival show that's more or less largely up-tempo.
"We used to find that a lot harder when we only had one or two albums because we really had no choice but to play the ballads and the B-sides if we were going to try to make an hour-long set. That was quite hard sometimes."
Unger-Hamilton admits there are songs from 'An Awesome Wave' he never considered they would still be performing a decade later, yet they still regularly include in sets because fans tend to love them.
"'Bloodflood' is one that has never been a single – it's quite a down-tempo song – but it seems to be one that people never want to not be in the set, which is a nice thing," he says.
"I suppose I'm not gobsmacked by that, because I think generally to our fans every track on 'An Awesome Wave' is a big song for them."
alt-J also enjoys leaving little "easter eggs" for fans to find throughout their albums. In the case of 'The Dream', it was the cameo appearances by their friends and families.
"My mum did [a cameo], my wife did, Joe's mum did, Joe's dad did – we had lots of family people on there. It was very nice," he smiles.
"It's a fun thing for us, and it's a fun thing for them, hopefully. I think it's just the little easter eggs that are hidden in there, that when fans find out about it they kind of like it; and it's also a nice way for us to say thank you to the people who support us."
Groovin The Moo 2023 Line-up
alt-JAmy Shark
Ball Park Music
Barkaa
bbno$
The Chats
Choomba
Confidence Man
Denzel Curry
Eliza Rose
Fatboy Slim
Laurel
Luude
Ocean Alley
Omar Apollo
Royel Otis
Skegss
Skepta
Slayyyter
Slowly Slowly
Sophie May
Teen Jesus & The Jean Teasers
Teenage Dads
Teenage Joans
With hosts Lex & Pookie
Groovin The Moo 2023 Tour Dates
Fri 21 Apr - Adelaide ShowgroundSat 22 Apr - Maitland Showground
Sun 23 Apr - Exhibition Park In Canberra
Sat 29 Apr - Prince of Wales Showgrounds (Bendigo)
Sun 30 Apr - Kawana Sports Western Precinct (Sunshine Coast)
Sat 6 May - Hay Park (Bunbury)
alt-J 2023 Tour Dates
Tue 25 Apr - Metro Theatre (Sydney)* An Awesome Wave show (sold out)Wed 26 Apr - Hordern Pavilion (Sydney)
Thu 27 Apr - The Riverstage (Brisbane)
Tue 2 May - Northcote Theatre (Melbourne)* An Awesome Wave show (sold out)
Wed 3 May - Margaret Court Arena (Melbourne)
Sun 7 May - HBF Stadium (Perth)
