alt-j - Live at the Academy, Bristol - 10th May 2022

It’s often speculated that one needs to have a healthy ego to be a performer, and it’s undeniable that to get up on a stage and either articulate your feelings or show off what specific artistic talent you may have certainly requires confidence, if nothing else.

The very nature of stage performance ordinarily means you are elevated above the attendees, but with a raised platform adorning the stage, alt-J could be said to be overstating the point.

However, knowing them of old (as we now surely do after 10 years), it seems unlikely that the unassuming trio are pursuing a god complex and indeed, the platform ensures that even the shorter members of the crowd can see the three men and compliments impressive visuals.

Bristol’s Academy, with a capacity of 1,500 (the lack of an arena in this part of the world is either a benefit or a crutch, depending on your point of view), is likely to be one of the smaller venues on this spring tour, which works to their strength; the lightshow, set as it is around their platform, is dazzling and the backdrop images (burning embers, sharks, Matrix glitches) brightens the venue, although sadly their music, operating as it does in varying volumes, doesn’t always fill the room.

The Leeds band are one of those acts which bring out a mixed crowd of students, people that are there for a night out (and are generally having a catch-up) and the type of people who recognise one song from an advert.

https://www.live4ever.uk.com/2022/05/review-alt-j-live-bristol/