By Alexa Scott
Few albums changed the indie music landscape as much as ‘An Awesome Wave’ by alt-J did when it debuted in 2012. With its seamless transitions from track to track, the album succeeds in immersing the audience in a unique sonic experience with its weird nonsense-esque sounds, which somehow transform into clever references the more you listen. Despite how dense and meticulous each track is, each song is catchier than the last, a feat to be recognized and applauded.
So, when I heard alt-J was coming to White Oak Music Hall in the middle of November for an anniversary tour, I knew I had to be there. And by the looks of the sold out sign on the door as I walked in, so did every single alt-J fan in the greater Houston area. The venue was packed, with people left standing in the middle of the open doors leading into the space (this I think was largely due to the crowd’s unwillingness to crowd together).
There’s something uniquely special about anniversary tours, not only do artists get to revisit past work and long-time fans get to reminisce about the first time they heard the band, it also gives artists full freedom over setlists, to hell with playing recent tracks. alt-J clearly took advantage of this, playing the entirety of ‘An Awesome Wave’ from start to finish and wrapping up with some fan-favorites from other albums.
Right off the bat, I was wowed with the light production for the show. Combined with the heavy building bass of songs like “Fitzpleasure,” it created an otherworldly atmosphere. Largely due to the layout of WOMH Downstairs, alt-J frontman Joe Newman was consistently bathed in streams of red beams of light timed with drops that made for a really cool visual experience.
I was a bit disappointed to see an overall lack of energy from the band as a whole. Other than the occasional breaks between songs to talk to the crowd, there was very little that differentiated one song from the other in terms of what they were doing. This meant that for popular, fast paced songs, the momentum from the crowd was there, and it was awesome. But for more dramatic, slower songs like “Bloodflood,” it felt lackluster. Maybe this is part of a larger conversation of comparing bands to past versions of themselves, but it was tough to see.
All in all, I’m glad I got to catch alt-J on their tour. After this brief stop in Texas, alt-J is headed to Canada before coming back to the US to wrap up their An Awesome Wave Anniversary Tour.
