Photo: Melissa Jordan Dammer

Alt-J is the newest truly exceptional gift from the UK. Their debut album An Awesome Wave has been running through myriad veins since 2012, while their sophomore album This is All Yours dropped in September of this year and quickly climbed to the number one spot in the UK.

The band has since celebrated several awards including a Mercury Prize and an Album of the Year nod from the BBC’s Radio 6, making a habit of selling out shows across the globe, culminating in a Madison Square Garden slot in March of next year with a single opener. Not a small feat for a band with a mere two records under their belt.

So Alt-J isn’t exactly the new kid on the block though, either. They’re in this sweet spot between blow-up and burgeoning status. And seeing them perform now while they are still fresh and playing everything they have is a special opportunity for a fan.

Thus when I received an email from The Artist’s Den informing me that I had won two free tickets to a secret Alt-J show in Hollywood, I was ecstatic.

The show’s location was kept a secret until the day before the event. It ended up being at the Hollywood American Legion which seemed strange but ended up creating the perfect vibe for the nature of the show. There were cameras swooping around all over the place since the show was, of course, a live recording to kick off season 10 of Live from the Artist’s Den.

Live from the Artist’s Den is a gift to music lovers in and of itself. The show airs on public television and hosts the biggest names in music. The artists always play in small venues with a small crowd of fans that have either been invited to attend or won a ticket in a lottery. The show has has been going strong since 2008 and the episodes are available for purchase on iTunes.

The band’s sound is just massive, made even more spectacular by the historic Hollywood location. They opened with perhaps the moodiest song off the their new album, “Hunger of the Pine;” a melodic pulsating progression that starts with soft vocals and then builds into an explosive rock chant led by a Miley Cyrus sample and a beat fit for battle.

As expected, from said two-album oeuvre, they played just about all of it. We knew each song coming at the sound of the first note and sang every word. I wasn’t expecting an encore, being that it was intended for television, and was almost disappointed when they seemed to end the show with “Warm Foothills” and “The Gospel of John Hurt.” But they didn’t leave us hanging. They came back out with “Nara” and ended the show properly with all 500 of us chanting the “please don’t go” heartstring tug send-off from “Breezeblocks:” [LISTEN]

breezeblocks

Set List:

  1. Hunger of the Pine
  2. Fitzpleasure
  3. Something Good
  4. Left Hand Free
  5. Dissolve Me
  6. Matilda
  7. Bloodflood
  8. Bloodflood Pt. II
  9. Interlude 1
  10. Tessellate
  11. Every Other Freckle
  12. Taro
  13. Warm Foothills
  14. The Gospel of John Hurt
  15. Lovely Day (Bill Withers Cover)
  16. Nara
  17. Leaving Nara
  18. Breezeblocks

Photo: Melissa Jordan Dammer