Music / Reviews
Review, Alabama 3, O2 Academy
The rains were biblical when the Alabama 3 came to town – very apt given that their show was on Good Friday – but the weather didn’t dismay their congregation, who packed the Academy. Red Ray & the Reprobates opened the proceedings and to be frank were cheered to the rafters before they even plugged in their kit.
That was no surprise as the band have a large and loyal following around town, and they made a lot of new fans with a barn storming 45 minute set packing in a rake of originals and a solitary cover. There are three reasons why they went down so well, and if you’ve not encountered them, three reasons why you should make it a priority to do so.
is needed now More than ever
Firstly in Ray Lannon the band have a massive vocal presence, he’s the owner of a Johnny Cash sized voice in an Angus Young sized body and his deep, rich powerful vocals could not be ignored. He led the band with aplomb (despite a monster hangover. Allegedly.) An engaging presence, his acoustic work underpinned the songs and his fetching banter entertained between numbers. He also left your correspondent with a severe case of hat envy.
Secondly the rest of the band are tighter than a sand crab’s arse: stinging lead guitar from Cameron Cheek (and delightful harmony vocals); cracking banjo & electric guitar from Dan Ashby, happy to provide melodic flashes with the former and tidy rhythmic support with the latter, but also happy to duel with Cheek on both. The band’s engine room was manned by Stewie Passmore on bass and Jackson Jeff on drums and they powered the band through the set: tight and swinging, giving the tunes that oh-so-danceable backbeat.
Thirdly the band have an admirable collection of tunes: raucous, rambunctious, rhinestone-free country tunes that rock and are packed with hooks and killer choruses. And the band clearly enjoyed playing them, grins lighting up the stage and Passmore barely able to contain his glee as he bopped around the stage. Their delight in their performance was infectious and they had the crowd in their pocket throughout, indeed the set concluded with a sustained roof raising demand for an encore.
Set openers Fairly Average Brown & Life’s a Bitch were a killer one-two, particularly the latter’s earworm chorus but Scottish Power not only had the crowd grooving but laughing with its heartfelt reportage about how a “…power company I can’t name for legal reasons…” royally screwed Lannon. New tune Space Junk featured breakneck breathless tongue-twisting lyrics, a grinning Cheek barely able to keep up with Lannon, and also featured a positively Hendrixian guitar wig out at its climax. Giant Song was an epic conclusion to the set and then the cheeky buggers squeezed in Folsom Prison, a version that was as boisterous as it was rowdy with both Cheek and Ashby burning down the leads.
Red Ray & the Reprobates are yet another band proving the vibrancy of the local scene, We really are blessed with a host of outfits capable of going toe-to-toe with national and international bands and needless to say they are all deserving of your support…especially Red Ray who could really use a band van. So get online and buy a CD or better yet, check the Picks and go and see them and get it in person.
Alabama 3 are self-confessed purveyors of “sweet pretty muthafuckin’ country acid house music” and over the course of a career spanning set they proved how good they are at playing sweet pretty muthafuckin’ country acid house music. In fact they proved in front of a packed house they’re bloody good at playing it, with the crowd singing along and dancing their asses throughout.
The focal point of the band remains Rev D Wayne Love (rapping / singing, humorous banter, healing the sick – see below – and caustic put downs of lairy crowd members: “You look like the kind of man that has a piece of limp linguine hanging between his legs”); Larry Love (gravelly yet tuneful lead vocals and gangly yet groovy dancing) and Harpo Strangelove (high lonesome harp woven in to every tune and groovy but not gangly dancing). Be Atwell was of course on hand to lend some gravitas to the front line with equally delightful toasting and harmony vocals.
Whilst there’s no doubt Love, Love and Strangelove (suggesting a firm of hippy solicitors led by an apocalyptic lunatic) were the focus of the set, the musicians on stage more than held their own. Rock Freebass still looks like he could be a member of Lynyrd Skynyrd, and plays like it to – scorching solos and solid riffs, slide that beguiled and entranced. His six string partner Steve Finnerty was an unassuming presence but his rhythm and riffs gave Freebase the launch pad for his succinct and lean leads.
Meanwhile The Spirit of Love and Wizard laid down swirling synths and took it to the church with the gospel keys, both triggering all manner of sounds and samples. Although a bass was visible on stage, it never left its stand but the band had tremendous gut wrenching bottom end throughout thanks to the mighty L B Dope’s sonic boom, pounding the kit but never overpowering the material. He really was at the heart of the set – with the organised chaos of the tempo changes, the samples and the multiple vocals and rapping he kept every tune on the one, never losing the beat.
They have the tunes too: well honed, well-crafted and much loved material they played to perfection. Arguably the most transcendent moment of a marvellously uplifting set was Hello…I’m Johnny Cash, the crowd assisted chorus lifting the spirits and reminding us all that the world has indeed gone to rat shit since his demise and would be a far better place if he was still he present. Preferably as President.
Meanwhile a downbeat U Don’t Dans 2 Tekno was still resplendent and there were plenty of knowing, teary eyed glances of acknowledgment at its sentiments amongst the more senior members of the crowd. The band’s humour shone through on much of the material, but was pitch black on (I’ll Never be) Satisfied, accompanied by its dayglow retina scorching video. Of course they played the single that brought them mainstream attention but “…bought someone a swimming pool, but it sure wasn’t any of us…”
The band are still visually stimulating and engaging too, they know how to put on a show. Albeit they have an off-kilter approach to showmanship. Larry Love had been wheeled on stage in a wheelchair and surgical gown, inexplicably wearing a pair of tights a-la yer typical clichéd seventies wrong-un from the Sweeney. Wheelchair wrangler Strangelove looked like a psychotic doctor and with the presence of a transvestite nurse on keys, and lab coats all around the band looked ready to provide triage at a rave gone bad. Really bad.
Upon taking the stage the Rev D Wayne Love laid his hands on Larry Love and miraculously cured him to the delight of the rammed crowd. Rising from his chair like a grizzled Lazarus he shook off his gown as the band kicked in to the hypnotic groove of Ain’t Going to Goa. And thein lies the secret of the band and their longevity – wicked sense of humour, a genuinely innovative mashup of genres and infectiously danceable tunes with lyrics that resonate for both the original fans and newcomers alike. Can I get an amen to that?
Alabama 3: O2 Academy, Friday 30 March 2018
All pix by John Morgan
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