Last week I saw an unbelievable Alabama Shakes performance at Brixton Academy. This gig settled one thing for me; Brittany Howard is the best front-person in Rock music right now.
They kicked things off with a jangly guitar southern-soul rock number in ‘Hang Loose’ which is from their first album Boys & Girls. This was one of the only songs from that album that they played, which pleased me because I think their new album Sound & Colour is brilliant.
Sound & Colour is a lot darker than the first album, the jangly guitars have been replaced with heavier, powerful riffs – almost Arctic Monkeys in AM.
Songs they played from that album included the hit ‘Gimme All Your Love’, a slow, bluesy rock song. And also my personal favourite ‘Miss You’, a solid retro soul banger.
Brittany Howard was simply flawless, didn’t drop a note. But wow, what a performer. I think she is a brilliant player of that gorgeous mint blue guitar, honestly, but there were moments where she put the guitar down and manoeuvred round the stage singing beautiful Aretha Franklin and Marvin Gaye soul to the fans that hung off every lyric. The best way to describe her performing and singing style is like Robert Plant meets Nina Simone.
I also think it’s necessary to comment on the rest of the band; Zac Cockrell (bass), Heath Fogg (Guitar) and Steve Johnson (drums). They were so tight on stage, it’s the tightest I’ve heard a live band. The drummer, Johnson, has some terrific little fills and subtle tempo changes and I think that’s a thoroughly important cog in the machine which is the Alabama Shakes kaleidoscopic, sound.
Okay, that’s it, I’m calling it. Alabama Shakes are the band of the moment. I hope their next album takes as big a step as Sound & Colour did – which is in my opinion the best album of the year.
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