Live
Alberta Cross
Bush Hall, London
17 November 2009 (gig)
22 November 2009
Oh Ruin were first on tonight and treated us to a soup of dismal pseudo UK folk rock. It all had a very rainy day, kitchen sink feel about it, and about as appealing.
The altogether more appealing Alberta Cross had sold out the venue, mainly on the strength of favourable press, and a solid, if unspectacular, debut album. Broken Side of Time, is a confident mix of mainly blues and 70’s rock, but there’s also some prog and bluegrass detectable.
The haunting, fragile Song Three Blues kicked things off, and was almost immediately sabotaged by the sound which was a mush all night. The power of the song was blunted, though Petter Erickson Stakee’s unique voice managed to cut through. Taking Control followed and while not one of the albums stronger moments, is a solid live number.
Old Man Chicago is one of the albums highlights and destined to be a live standard. The rolling guitar and keyboard of Leave Us and Forgive Us, and later on, the crushingly heavy The Broken Side of Time displayed the band’s harder, darker edge.
Ghost of City Life slowed the pace and allowed Stakee to demonstrate his vocal range. The excellent The Thief and The Heartbreaker, with its flourishes of Gilmouresque guitar followed. The main set was brought to a close by the contrasting combination of the epic and disconcerting Rise of the Shadows, and the full on guitar and keyboard assault of ATX.
It was a short well received performance, though lacking any real spark, which meant the attention did start to wander. Like the album, the gig was solid and unspectacular. Time will tell if just those aforementioned facets will be enough in these very competitive times, and in a genre of music that is starting to look a bit crowded.
The altogether more appealing Alberta Cross had sold out the venue, mainly on the strength of favourable press, and a solid, if unspectacular, debut album. Broken Side of Time, is a confident mix of mainly blues and 70’s rock, but there’s also some prog and bluegrass detectable.
Old Man Chicago is one of the albums highlights and destined to be a live standard. The rolling guitar and keyboard of Leave Us and Forgive Us, and later on, the crushingly heavy The Broken Side of Time displayed the band’s harder, darker edge.
Ghost of City Life slowed the pace and allowed Stakee to demonstrate his vocal range. The excellent The Thief and The Heartbreaker, with its flourishes of Gilmouresque guitar followed. The main set was brought to a close by the contrasting combination of the epic and disconcerting Rise of the Shadows, and the full on guitar and keyboard assault of ATX.
It was a short well received performance, though lacking any real spark, which meant the attention did start to wander. Like the album, the gig was solid and unspectacular. Time will tell if just those aforementioned facets will be enough in these very competitive times, and in a genre of music that is starting to look a bit crowded.