by Jet

The Alive
17th Feb, Brickmakers, Norwich and 21st Feb, Edward VII, Norwich

I don’t think you can deny that a band that has such awesome guitar solos is not good. ‘The Alive’ are a newly spruced and primped up version of their former identity of Yankee Nine Niner. When Yankee split up I thought I had lost good music forever because I was in love with their sound. However, I cannot tell you my excitement to find out that the band weren’t lost; they’d just had some minor vocalist changes.
Having not seen this band, despite all the times they had been to Norwich, due to transport problems; I ended up seeing them twice in one week. The first was on Wednesday 17th February, this was a fantastic gig, although dampened slightly by the array of drunken men in the pub just to watch the football. As thrilling as a Chelsea v Barcelona match is, a band of this scope is much more thrilling. From my position right in front of the stage with beers and the hiccups, the band blew me away. I’d heard some of their songs on their MySpace page and was impressed but there always is something about these kinds of bands that makes them so much better live.
I have always said that Female vocals are the only thing that lets a female fronted band down, despite how good their music is. I just think that girls cannot sing rock vocals as well as boys. Of course The Alive had to come along and change all this. Camilla’s vocals are as powerful as any band could wish for, making the band sound more amazing than I could’ve imagined.
I saw them again on the following Sunday at the Edward VII pub also in Norwich. Here the atmosphere was that of a proper gig, I was stuck behind some guy with a very dodgy haircut and in front of him there was at least another two rows of people. It’s a small pub I hadn’t been to before and The Alive had brought in such a crowd that it was a fight to get to the bar to buy beer. After a few technical problems that almost defended us punters, the set turned out to be amazing. Because of the closeness of the venue everything seemed so much louder, especially the drums.
What I am trying to tell you, lovely readers, is that if you love guitar solos, kick-arse vocals and REAL rock music then you will listen to this band. You will buy their CD (three tracks for two quid, not bad) and you will go and see them, then tell me what you think because I believe that with a bigger following and more gigs under their belt, this band could be big!
Check them out, with their tour dates at www.myspace.com/thealivemusic