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Live Review
by Rev. Anarkhos
2-12-2002
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| Alabama 3: cyber-cowmen's clubbin' |
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Live: Alabama 3
Astoria, London
Sunday, December 1, 2002
Alabama 3’s musical ideology proves that resistance is not futile
There is no band, not only in the UK but the world, like Alabama 3 and that might be the reason for their lack of global dominance. They are unique, renegades, an outfit that refuses to toe any lines; A3 are definitely reminiscent of a scene in the flick ‘Wild One’ when Marlon Brando’s character replies to a question of rebellion – “What have you got?”
Their albums do not fit the current manipulative market because they are honest, full of integrity and still fighting for a small-man’s justice. (Small in political sense, not importance as a human being.) It was another brilliant night at the congregation of the First Presleytairan Church of Elvis The Divine to promote the next chapter in the scriptures, better known as the third album, ‘Power In The Blood’.
And, it is a more focused offering, the band is honing their musical point to a spike’s tip. And yet, being a live occasion, it is shambolic, entertaining, mad and sweatin’-spirit moving. The original country-rave approach has evolved into a cyber-funk: no soul tonight could stand still but bump into others due to the place being filled up to the rafters. And why not – this is music-as-theology if religion had a sense of humour and one of its sins were – ‘Not having fun’. (By some ironic stroke of destiny, BBC1 finished broadcasting programme on ‘Moses’, that fictitious character from all the Middle Eastern originating sacred texts, as the band came on stage!)
Singers Larry Love (né Rob Spragg), in his Stetson, cowboy boots and dark glasses, displays as much rock-star poise and attitude as it takes the pish outta it. Helped by The Very Reverend Dr. D Wayne Love (aka Jake Black), the backing sextet of musos provides a pulpit for an incredible aural sermon. ‘Power In The Blood’, the title cut of the current album, comes on early in the show to set the tone for this evening when joy, righteousness and provocation walk in hand-in-hand.
Someone pointed out that A3 is a rock band for intellectuals and it might be so but they do have a catchy side that could easily translate into chart action if people could only see beyond imagery and hype’n’sex selling popcorn. It almost happened when ‘Woke Up This Morning’ was picked up as ‘The Sopranos’ TV-series theme but it failed to do so for whatever (diabolical) reason. They will never get £80 million squid for a quartet of albums but history will remember them much more than that Stoke-fake.
Larry and Rev talk a fair bit (perhaps a tad too much) about the social malaises but it is music that keeps it ticking along like a timed-device where new material is as effortlessly potent as the cuts from the 1987’s debut disc, ‘Exile On Coldharbour Lane’ (the title itself should have won a Nobel Peace Prize!) or the last year’s ‘La Peste’: ‘Ain’t Goin’ To Goa’, ‘U Don’t Dance 2 Tekno’, ‘Woody Guthrie’, ‘The Devil Went To Ibiza’, ‘Lord Have Mercy’… They even cover Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Badlands’.
Although the music is brilliant, the line-up includes Seggs (once a member of the brilliant Ruts), not all of it is perfect; the biggest disappointment being that they brought out again one of the ‘Manchester bombers’ who were set-up and kept locked up for quarter-of-a-century. Haven’t there been more miscarriages of justice over the past year? How about firemen and nurses, they are not imprisoned and yet they are being punished-by-exploitation for being social carers? You don’t need to be shackled to be enslaved!
Still, Alabama 3 are the music industry’s delinquents and we require more of their ilk because we need artists to express our “nostalgic notion of the empowering ability of underground culture”, as L. Love put it once. They are the rebels from the South… That is South London, once proud and grass-progressive Republic of Brixton that has been re-occupied by the small-mind morality of populace and its demonic Government.
Counter-culture’s been dead for a long time and yet it lives with Alabama 3. Hail the rascals!
Rev. Anarkhos
16-11-2002
Alabama 3’s album ‘Power In The Blood’ is available now on One Little Indian
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