So Australia………Are there any musicians left in your country, or are they all over here on tour? The amount of Australian bands that are hitting the Twin Cities on a regular basis is way out of proportion for a county with a population of 24 million. And while we’re at it, do you have any musicians that are like, not totally cool? Like a bad white rapper, or some way cheesy country act? Asking for the rest of the planet. One such cool band surfed into the Entry last night. Promoting their latest release “Chiaroscuro” Sydney’s Ocean Alley had come to town.
Starting the night was Twin Cities’ band Tabah who brought a different cool vibe. If you haven’t seen them, they are a band that refuse to be defined by one style. Their music has a free flowing, almost jazzy vibe, and the vocals match that perfectly at times. But then there’s organ parts that remind you of 70s rock and guitars that can be quite heavy at times drawing the mental image of Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple in my mind. It’s a package that works well and has earned them a dedicated following with a good sized crowd in attendance for their set.
Set List: False Balance / Villain / Myth / Spine / Real / They Will Come / Noble
This was Ocean Alley’s first time in Minneapolis, so we forgive them for the “Mini Applebee’s: joke. To make up for it they incorporated Minneapolis into “Muddy Water”. Singer Baden Donegal’s voice reminds me of a (healthy) Alex Rose at times when he sings live. Ocean Alley has a rather chill vibe, it’s like they just left their surfboards at the backdoor and were now playing a show before going back out. The crowd was far from chill, they deep into the music. The opening bars of “Knees” were greeted with a “OMG I LOVE this song” scream. The energy was way above normal with fans reaching out (One fan was on a quest to create a selfie collage), dancing like mad and generally having a great time.
There was a Reggae flavored song and “Frostbite” got hard and heavy. By the time their set was done, everyone was drenched in sweat and grinning from ear to ear. Not sure if there’s something in the water down under, but please keep sending bands like Ocean Alley our way.
List: Corduroy / Comedown / Muddy / Knees / Yellow / Holiday / Overgrown / Frostbite / Bones / Flowers / Lemon / Confidence / Happy
