The Alarm

Legendry frontman Mike Peters was halfway through ‘Rain In The Summertime' as I entered the familiar environment of the Islington Academy. According to an exuberant fan The Alarm had been on stage for over half an hour and it was not even 8:45. What a joke. Mean Fiddler venues are good but on Saturdays they take the piss, packing you in and shunting you out so that the clubbers can be crammed in and bar prices hiked up even further. Funnily enough this was the second time that day I had been to the Islington Academy having seen Carl Barat's brilliant Dirty Pretty Things strut their stuff as part of the Carling 24 showcase much earlier that day. Still, I knew that Peters would leave the best to the end although every song I mentioned to the smirking Alarm fan (including a couple Kylie classics) had apparently been played. Sporting his trademark spiky blond hair, Peters looked like a man on a mission. Tearing through a catalogue of songs that stemmed from the 1981's ‘Unsafe Building' through to the present day ‘Under Attack'. Incorporating the obligatory mid-set acoustic interlude which included the surprise addition of ‘Reason 41' the night was a veritable musical feast. Cajoling the audience Peters had lost none of his flare for audience participation. Hands raised high above our heads for ‘Spirit Of 76' and we knew the nostalgic journey was coming to an end, but with a Music News 5 star album and a Hollywood movie in the making it is far from over.