All night-long, her weird howls soared and crashed into intimate whispers of a vulnerable beauty, then rose again into a wall of thunder over wobbling keys and shuffling drums. Even the slower tunes such as ‘Gemini’ or ‘Dunes’ were intense, and she held the audience at the tip of each of her screams, while making strong facial expressions, sweeping the sweat from her eyebrows between songs.
Alabama Shakes were fantastic last night, I could only see Brittany Howard from where I was, and I feel sorry for the rest of her excellent band but that’s all I needed to see. She was a force, a fury, commanding the stage like a rock star, and the public was responding to each of her howls with cheers and claps with cheers and claps in a way I have rarely witnessed at a concert.
The clip was directed by James Frost, and based on a concept by the band’s singer-songwriter Brittany Howard, who had already explained her multi-horizon influences in an interview with Rolling Stone. She said ‘she was inspired by everything from Roberta Flack to the E.T. soundtrack as the band expanded beyond the soulful roots-rock of their debut.’…
Gimme All Your Love – Alabama Shakes – This isn’t a career maker, obviously, but it is a big big time soul song that should cement their position as simply one of the best young modernist soul bands in the business: it is where Talking Heads would have been heading if Al Green was the lead singer – A
Of those I am seeing, Ed is always a blast live and should have no problems rocking the joint. I do wonder if he has an actual band yet? James Taylor I had tickets at MSG last winter but found myself in Florida instead, and Alabama Shakes have a terrific new album, so, yeah, let it rock.
I am blasting ‘Sound & Color’, the new Alabama Shakes album at home, I could not get a ticket to see them in Jimmy Kimmel Live, I wasn’t invited to their intimate performance at Apogee Studios in Santa Monica arranged for the press, but I just got to see their signing at Amoeba on Tuesday night. Better than nothing
Shoegaze – Alabama Shakes – What gives with these guys? This is a fuzzed out indie rocker of the first order and while we miss Brittany Howard really wailing, what we get in return is Shakes go indie with the sort of song TVOTR would sneak by us from time to time – A
OK, let’s discuss who the most anticipated won’t be. It won’t be Tom Delonge not acting his age again, it won’t be the overrated Speedy Orti, or the overrated Passion Pit or the plaily lousy Yelawolf. I gotta go with Alamaba Shakes, if for no other reason than the first single is the “Tusk” soundalike “Future People” -which is just excellent.
