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Alt-J’s appearance at Bowery Ballroom last night was a big breakthrough, in many ways. Not only was it a sold out show at the historic venue, but it was their first performance since their terrific debut album An Awesome Wave, received a nomination for the prestigious Barclaycard Mercury Prize.
As if selling out the Bowery was enough to keep the band enthused, you could totally sense that the band were in the highest of spirits fresh of a nomination. They dazzled and wowed me at every point, staying true to the eccentric tunes that don’t deserve an attempt to be categorized, because there really is no way to sum the band’s sound up.
Alt-J seemed about the same age at me, but played and handled themselves with the age of much wiser men. They delivered every note with enthusiasm, and made sure we all left the venue much bigger fans than we already were.
JBM, the project of Jesse Marchant opened the show, and put on a warm set that got the mood set. He crafted wondrous songs that were often a thing of beauty, totally worthy of headlining his own shows soon, which is definitely on the way for the Brooklyn-based musician.
Hit the jump for a gallery of photos from the show. Thanks to Phil Khmelnitski for helping me out with some of the photos.
Alt-J:
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JBM:
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