Live Review: Alpine

It has been a long two years since Melbourne’s Alpine graced a South Australian stage, and boy it was nice to have those sweet, sweet tunes serenading our ears once again. 

Supports Darts and Olympia deserve a special mention, not because they’re supports, but because they performed their hearts out to a minimal crowd slow to rock up on a chilly Wednesday evening. Perhaps it was the cold that kept many fans beside the heater, causing a slight delay in proceedings, but as the night grew older, so did the enthusiasm of the crowd. 

Alpine’s entrance was met with rapturous applause and whistling, with many hardly able to contain the smiles on their faces. Those smiles only kept growing wider as the on-stage banter and playful charisma from lead singers Lou James and Phoebe Baker gave us all warm fuzzies. 

Touring their newest work, Yuck, the band definitely know how to please a crowd, throwing in a few golden oldies (can we say that about an album released in 2012?) including Gasoline, Seeing Red and Hands. Their newest tracks, Foolish and Damn, Baby, were phenomenal, not to mention their on-stage grooves, which at one point involved Phoebe’s wet hair being whipped back and forth (I’ll leave the Willow Smith references out of this, thank you).

This was Alpine’s first gig in a string of national shows that will take in Melbourne, Brisbane, Fremantle, Canberra, Sydney and a few regional areas, but you could be mistaken for thinking it was their last. It was a polished performance that was so much fun to experience. If you’re anywhere near a venue they’re playing during this tour, don’t miss out. You’ll regret it if you do.