Tag: st. justice

Albert Hammond Jr. 1/10/14

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(a) setlist

    1. St. Justice
    2. Everyone Gets a Star
    3. Scared
    4. GfC
    5. Carnal Cruise
    6. In Transit
    7. Postal Blowfish (Guided By Voices cover)
    8. Holiday
    9. Cooker Ship
    10. Hard To Live in The City
    11. Strange Tidings
    12. Rude Customers
    13. Blue Skies
    14. Last Caress (The Misfits cover)

(b) highlights

  • first time seeing Albert Hammond Jr.!
  • was a fan of AHJ for years before catching this show – was quite pleasantly surprised how incredible he sounded live – exactly like the album
  • the lighting and stage set-up was really cool, especially considering AHJ was opening for Jake Bugg at this show
  • Yours To Keep was one of my favorite albums in high school, so I was thrilled with how many songs he played from it, especially “Scared”

(c) lowlights

  • I’m still sort of annoyed years later that AHJ opened for Jake Bugg?? that should’ve been reversed, obviously
  • the crowd was overwhelmingly there for Jake Bugg – a fact that still confuses me

(d) overall thoughts

As I mentioned, this was my first time seeing Albert Hammond Jr. live and he exceeded every expectation possible. The stage set-up was cool with a handful of free-standing red lights surrounding Albert and his phenomenal back-up band. For some reason, someone thought it would make sense for AHJ to open for Jake Bugg, who – at the time – had one album out that apparently became huge thanks to the young, Tumblr crowd. The audience that night was very young and clearly there for Jake Bugg, but I had a good time regardless.

I first heard Albert’s song “Scared” when it was included on a free disc from Q magazine or Uncut sometime in 2007 or 2008, and I’ve been a fan ever since. That fact made it that much cooler when he actually played that song and it sounded pristine, clear, and exactly as I always wanted to hear it. Even though the crowd and setting weren’t ideal, it made me love AHJ more and want to thoroughly explore his later works Como Te Llama? and AHJ, which had recently come out at this time. Like, how amazing is “St. Justice”? And how cinematic and beautiful is that video? Instant classic.

 

Bottom line: Albert Hammond Jr. is an incredible songwriter and lively performer; everything about his performance feels effortless – and that’s the most triumphant part.