Alt-J at Sound Academy – March 27, 2013

Written by Mike Gallagher

Touring on the backs of their Mercury Prize winning debut album, An Awesome Wave, England’s Alt-J rolled into Toronto for their second visit with a third date in September at Echo Beach already announced.

Such rabid touring of North America might explain their baffling popularity. Even this gig was moved from the Phoenix to the much larger Sound Academy due to the demand. Alt-J are not a “pop” band. I found “An Awesome Wave” a bit awkward at first, but was seduced pretty damned hard with repeated listens. They get minimal airplay and they’re not “Hollywood” attractive, so what gives?

The packed house is full of regular looking 20-35 year olds featuring the highest female to male audience I’ve seen since I last saw Ani Difranco. I was expecting a room full of Brit pop nerd boys, but what I got, or Alt-J got was the pretty jocks and sorority girls.

The crowd goes crazy when the lights go down and their enthusiasm does not dim over the course of the evening. With no dramatic entrance, the four piece amble up on stage and proceed to play every track from their debut. Two “supermodel” looking girls standing in front of me lose their shit when they air “Tessellate” early in the set.

The sound at the Sound Academy has improved greatly over the years and Alt-J sounded fantastic, but I’m not blown away, and the band is making no attempt at doing so. In which might also lie their appeal. Their songs are not aggressive fist pumpers and you can’t really dance to it but the crowd combusts with boisterous approval, appearing to know the words to every song. The band seem humbled by the response and throw out some socially awkward love, back to the throng.

Highlight of the evening is “Matilda” and set closer “Breezeblocks” is a worthy climax to the evening but they’re not gone long and the crowd sticks around for the short encore.

It will be interesting to see how Alt-J follows up An Awesome Wave and its seemingly never-ending tour schedule, but as evidenced tonight, they have a significant and very vocal army behind them.