The ALMA set list consisted of eight songs; four of which were their own, and the remaining four were songs that they had covered from well-known artists within the indie/alternative rock music industry such as; Bloc Party, Arctic Monkeys and SLAVES. ALMA's opening track was an instrumental called - 'Get Me Out'. This instrumental really got the crowd going; it was opened by Litherland on lead guitar, followed by the exhilarating drums, Breese on the other guitar and then McCambridge on the bass shortly joined in. The instrumental was feisty and punchy then the lead singer; Frasier Kennedy got himself into his alter-ego by working himself up, off the energy of the crowd.
Their second song was a cover of Bloc Party's well-known track - 'Helicopter'. Drum sticks were getting thrown into the air, Breeze and Frasier Kennedy got into the swing of things immediately and it was a good cover; however the bassist seemed a bit too concentrated, so I was eager to see if he would perhaps loosen up further into the set list as he seemed a bit tense throughout the first two tracks. Also, there wasn't much connection on stage with the other members of the band, however on the other hand there is no doubt that this cover definitely got the crowd proper pumped up. Then this cover was followed by one of their own songs called - 'Antidote'. Frasier Kennedy introduced the song, I thought that this track had a very heavy and strong beat to it; due to the hard-hitting drums and heavy guitars. The track sounded heavily influenced by the likes of Jamie T and SLAVES. Lead singer and Breese began to show the audience an onstage-connection, which was good to see.
Their fourth track was another one of their own songs, and it is called - 'Devils Advocate'. Immediately this track was very heavy due to a simultaneous clash of instruments, and as a result - the crowd became very boisterous. A part of this song what I really like is when all of the instruments halt to a stop for the lead singer to sing the chorus line of;
"Devils Advocate!"
The crowd were going wild! Also all of the band members were now warmed up and feeling a lot more comfortable on stage. The frontman and lead guitarist, were both beginning to connect with the audience by going down to their level on the front line; whilst they were performing on the stage.
Their next performance was a cover of SLAVES - 'The Hunter'. Now, the boys are in luck because if you have read my review on SLAVES - 'Are You Satisfied?' - you will know my opinion on this band. However, you will also know that this is one of the very few songs that I actually like off their album! Breese was assisting the lead vocals for this track, and the crowd was getting wilder, the drummer was pulling subconscious angry facial expressions due to being so devoted to this performance, McCambridge on the bass loosened up a lot more and the lead guitarist was still actively connecting with the audience.
'You keep it! We don't want it!'
'Taken For A Fool' was their next track that was written by ALMA and that has a guitar intro and very powerful, repetitive drums also took their toll. For their last song of the evening (so you think) the lead singer starts to replicate Alex Turners dad-styled dancing when he was at The Strokes with Miles Kane. This only means one thing! Their next song is going to be an Arctic Monkeys cover! Frasier Kennedy begins to sing 'Do Me A Favour' with Alex's slight twang that he has when he sings. This was a good song choice as the majority of the audience knew the words and could sing along, however it would have been better if ALMA had added their own twist to it... It remained a quality cover though - regardless. Did you think that, that was the end of their set list? Nope! They closed off their set with an extra song which was, yet again - another SLAVES cover, and the cover was - 'Where's Your Car Debbie?' Kieran heavily assisted the vocals again on this cover, which added to the intensity of the instruments and the song itself.
"Where's your car Debbie? Debbie, where's your car?!"
In conclusion the Riff Factory presents gig was brilliant and I was amazed with the variety of all of the differenciated bands; and ALMA played very well, but I think that they all need to start taking tips off eachother on how to calm the nerves throughout their first couple of songs. Their own songs were very creative and had a very contagious beat to them; however when they covered a song they'd lose that sense of individuality that they have created within their own songs, as their covers tended to be immaculate replicas of the original song and it would be better if I could have seen ALMA's individuality being brought into a song that wasn't their own. Moving on; every single musician is extremely talented and having nerves is a perfectly normal thing, but they all need to start believing in themselves a lot more and believe in their capability and future as a band. The last thing I have to say is - the band need to be spending more time off-stage with eachother because they don't connect enough with eachother on-stage. Regardless of that, they still managed to put on a great show, they got the crowd going wild for the next act to follow them on stage - Arcadia. Every song on their set list was introduced to the audience before they even began performing and I liked this because that way the band are also influencing the crowds music taste by telling them what track they're performing. All in all, it was a very good performance for a young band who haven't been together for a remarkable length of time and I hope that they will take what I have said on board! Good luck with all of your future endeavours lads, and I wish all the best of success for you and your band!
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