There’s something odd about the crowd gathered in Aether and Echo for Brixton’s dub-funk-folk-rap-rock all-stars Alabama 3. I can’t quite put my finger on what it is. Maybe the vastness of the age range. Maybe the genre and fashion crossing from business casual to grunge-punk. Maybe it’s the fact they descended on the venue like a swarm of vodka swilling insects, buzzing in and packing the place out, only seconds before the band were due on stage. All-in-all it’s a highly unusual start to the evening but I guess with Alabama 3, the unexpected is what you expect.
There’s no fooling around with the three, who tonight are a four. Straight into a stunning rendition of ‘Love Will Tear Us Apart’ with Aurora Dawn on vocals before Larry Love strides on stage, equal parts preacher and prankster, spitting rhymes and walking the line with ‘Hello, I’m Johnny Cash. It’s always been a favourite of mine, but live, it’s a whole other beast. There’s a Baptist-like call-and-response chorus. “If you’re Johnny Cash then I’m Snoop Doggy Dogg” growls Love. He could be anyone he goddamn pleases up there.
There’s no rest for the wicked, guitar and harmonica beckon in ‘Woke Up This Morning’, best known from the show ‘The Sopranos’ and based on the reaction, an introduction to the band for many people here. Alabama 3 have been known for their outspoken attitudes to various situations. They’re not afraid to mix Cash with brash, spitting out “I shot a man in Belfast, just to watch him die”. The crowd applauds the cheap-pop, oblivious to the band’s intent. It’s a sad state of affairs that people shot people in Belfast. It’s a damn tragedy they still do.
In a country like Northern Ireland, Alabama 3 could wax lyrical all night. ‘You Are The One’ is dedicated to Gerry Conlon, ‘Following Rainbows’ permits the band a shout out to all those fighting the good fight in the LGBT community but on what should be a quiet Sunday night, no one here has come to be schooled in politics or religion. This is a crowd braying for hits and they go crazy for ‘U Don’t Danse 2 Tekno Anymore’. Again, you feel the meaning is somewhat lost on portions of the crowd who’d happily rave it up all night. Luckily ‘Bam Ba Lam’ and ‘Rehab’ follow in quick succession to keep the party in full flow. Everyone’s in fine voice by the end of the set, hollering along to a blistering cover of John Prine’s ‘Speed of the Sound of Loneliness’.
Larry Love’s got to get this all back under control somehow. That gruff voice beckons everyone forward for a Sunday night un-holy communion. ‘Lord Have Mercy’ and ‘Peace In The Valley’ are straight up gospel classics done as only Alabama 3 could. Sass, attitude, bravado and humility woven together and bound up with acoustic guitar strings and the high and lonesome harmonica wail. This is how Johnny Cash would have done it. This is how Kris Kristofferson would have done it. Actually, we’re a day late for Kristofferon and really not looking forward to that Monday morning coming down…