alt-J lit up San Francisco’s Bill Graham as a part of their world tour this past Wednesday. Despite their confessed love of triangles on the hit song “Tesselate,” which helped propel the band to stardom, their third major effort, Relaxer (2017), proved to be more obtuse than anything else. Still, the group proved more than capable of staying in shape due to Joe Newman’s unique vocals, a lively performance, and an elaborate light show which was synced perfectly with the beat of their production-heavy style of rock and roll.
As soon as I made my way into the auditorium I had to slither my way into the decisively split crowd. Half were vibing to the modern teenage anthems of The Neighbourhood while the other half remained stoic when faced with the charm of the Californian band. I was teetering on the edge, no longer young enough to find songs like “R.I.P. 2 My Youth” relatable, but still not jaded enough to openly disdain the group. I felt torn between my sister, a superfan, and my dad, the one who has to pay for her support of the group. Yet, as soon as I heard the iconic drum bass of their highest charting single to date “Sweater Weather,” I was fully immersed in the band’s allure. This song is able to rise above the rest of their discography by smothering corny lyrics with a wavy and melodic composition that could capture any listener. I can’t say that their live performance of the song competes with the recorded version based on the band’s lack of delicacy in their rendition that seemed more generic than anything else, but they surely made their mark on the now-enthused crowd.
After a few more songs The Neighbourhood left the stage and set up immediately began for our headliner. The swiftness and vigor of the stagehands foreshadowed the intricacy to come. Being in between weekends at Coachella, their setup seemed to be fit right into the vibe of the infamous desert festival. There were three elevated platforms for each of the members of the band, separated and visually caged off by horizontally stacked light tubes that also hung overhead. In addition to that 10 rectangular monitors were stationed in the background. As the crowd watched this puzzle being put together there was a flurry of whispers as to what was about to go down.
Finally, the lights went out and the band paraded out to their demarcated spots. Alt-J played “Tessellate” and “Breezeblocks” right out the gate which excited the crowd, many of whom were already throwing up triangles with their hands as if to demonstrate solidarity for the love of the shape with alt-J. After their two biggest hits were out of the way, the band began to dive into their new material. A definite highlight of this portion of the show was “In Cold Blood.” Their live rendition of this song really brought the binary nature of the song to life—alternating between their typical electronic orchestral sound and a horn section featuring a killer guitar solo woven in, giving meaning to the surprisingly catchy chorus: literally, “01110011.”
The performance combined the unique vocals and stylized production of the band with the energy and showmanship of a live run through, all in front of hundreds of awe-struck audience members. With the geometric light show there was never a dull moment. Soon it was clear that the show was coming to an end by the time they hit “Left Hand Free.” The explosive intro of the song conclusively demonstrated alt-J’s ability to make a crowd move. I’ve seen this song covered by other local bands a few times and it’s always been done justice, proving the song to be well-crafted, but it has always been missing the punch that only alt-J has been able to deliver. Thirsty for more, the crowd convinced the band to come out and repeat “Breezeblocks” before they finally thanked the Bay and made their way off stage.
Overall, I was very impressed with alt-J’s performance in San Francisco, proving the bands ability to resuscitate Relaxer with the enthusiasm of their performance. I would definitely recommend seeing the band to possible fans in need of some convincing and die-hard devotees alike.
Written and Photos by Sahil Chawla