What gets recorded and what a band can get out in a live setting are all too often two different sports. Very occasionally, you can be lucky enough to find a band that can not only achieve studio quality, but surpass it and bring something new and wonderful to the live arena. Tonight was one of those nights.

If you have followed our coverage of Alcoholic Faith Mission's last two albums, you will know that we found something to be quite excited about. In point of fact, we're not alone in that. The new album "Let This Be The Last Night We Care" has been earning glowing reviews everywhere from the blogeratti to the august pages of the Guardian newspaper.

So let's give a tiny bit of back story. The band have been together a little while, growing and metamorphosing from the original duo of Thorben and Sune to reach their present fivesome-ness. From Copenhagen, they have toured extensively in Europe, but this was the first time playing in the UK. Last Tuesday night was the last of four dates. They started at Barfly in Camden on the Saturday. I wasn't there but I gather they experienced some of the usual Saturday night crowd noisiness. They then took themselves to Cardiff for a night and then on to Manchester, where they supported Besnard Lakes at the Dulcimer. And thereby hangs a tale, as trombone player and electronics specialist Gustav managed to leave half his kit in Cardiff. This meant that as soon as they got off stage in Manchester, they had to drive straight back to Cardiff, pick up his missing pedals and then get their asses back to London and Wilmington. Knackered I think is the word, bringing us bang up to tonight's gig

Not really knowing what time anybody was on, I got there about eight, in time to have a beer with a friend and catch the supports. The night was put on by Ant Chalmers who runs the "God Don't Like It" website and shows. Booking acts that are just breaking must be a lot easier to get right in hindsight, so kudos to Ant for getting this on tonight, and his usual unerring eye for quality.

First up was Russell Joslin, who was a more than decent solo singer songwriter with acoustic guitar. That's not entirely accurate, as he started off with banjo but managed to break it just as he was 'getting to the good bit'. Fair do's though, he finished his set playing the most worn out Gibson acoustic jumbo this side of Tennessee. Enjoyable enough to pass the time and maintain interest.

Next on were Deer Park. These were lovely americana, enlivened by lap steel. I really liked these. If it want to risk hate mail, what went through my head was that "the National could sound this good if the National weren't quite so annoying". Best song of their set was 'Running' which contain the excellent line "She said that I attract trouble ... so what does that make you?". The word 'evocative' is what I scribbled on my hand, along with 'epic', for their storytelling, and 'longing' for the emotion. That's what they did for me.

Bizarre moment of the evening happened round about here - I popped out to the loo and saw someone with definite boho flair (and hat and hair) coming in. On my way back into the bar, I could see the same person now wandering out of the door. Apparently it was none other than Adam Ant, asking politely if he could get on stage and do a couple of numbers, which just wasn't going to be possible on tonight's tight bill. Let's hope he comes back, it would be a pity not to see that come to fruition in some way.

By the time Alcoholic Faith Mission got on stage, it was well past 10. Their recorded output is effect heavy, drowned in reverb, textured and layered. From the kit on stage, I anticipated that they were going to reproduce some of this on stage, which gladdened my heart. It did mean though that they were never going to spring up there and jauntily strum straight into it. That's not to say there was any huge delay, but it was all leading to the inevitable pinch point out that dreaded British institution, the 11 o'clock curfew.

The moment they started up, it was clear that they were aiming for the full magic. For a second or two I worried that Kristine's quite girly voice might not carry in here, in what was essentially the back room of a pub. I shouldn't have been concerned. First off, this 'back room' has audio quality to put bigger places to shame. The magic factor though was the energy and emotion that Kristine and Thorben poured into the vocals, and that the rest of the band brought forth too. It almost brought tears of emotion to my eyes and would have won over a queue at a bus stop. As it was, this was no bus queue, this was a fabulously enthusiastic crowd. I don't know who was producing the most whooping and hollering, band or audience. Quite some Danish contingent included, but not to my surprise camp followers, more like people that had picked up on the band at the Barfly four days earlier.


Alcoholic Faith Mission opened with 'Education'. By the time they got through the next couple of numbers to 'Honeydrip', Kristine's voice,soaring up high, and Thorben's down here on earth were really producing the goods. For someone who can sound quite wispy, in a live setting Kristine was bouncing and straining against the leashes, putting it out in a powerful way. Look at the photos, on this occasion they don't lie.


Gustav (hitherto known as the man with the flashiest shoes in rock 'n' roll) was making the trombone felt in 'I Heard You Call', producing jazz like pools of stillness at one and the same time as keeping the rest of the plates spinning. At times, it was clear that he was double tracking the bone by playing across pre-recorded pieces. There was absolute honesty in this when he put his instrument down and let the half-version keep coming out of the MacBook. I was loving it and so were the crowd by the sound and feel of it.


'Time' - one of only a couple of numbers from previous album "421 Wythe Avenue" - came complete with disembodied radio voices. It also highlighted the change across to 'live' - the slight delicacy of the album version being replaced by a thwacking drum driven sound. It was the most discordant moment of the set, and suited this respectful but loudly enthusiastic crowd down to the ground.

There was a charming moment of interlude while the band cracked a bottle of champers to toast Gustav's birthday, then onto into 'Closer To Dallas', again the live production throwing me by somehow coming over all 60's girl group harmony. There were shouts from the audience for 'Got Love Got Shellfish' - possibly the most likely single contender on the new album - with Thorben assuring us it was on its way. The band were starting up for 'Nut In Your Eye', a song often thought to be about porn, and in actuality about, ahem, porn, when they were told they had time for one more song, due to that cursed curfew. I understand the reasons, but hell's teeth it is frustrating.


They played out and up to curfew, putting so much into it that chatting afterwards to Thorben I was surprised that he felt he was slightly under par tonight. They were nothing but knock out, easily one of the best gigs I've been to, at all, whenever. If they end up getting back here in late summer to play a certain festival, they alone would make a camping weekend a very tempting proposition. Lovely people, they came out to chat. Overheard comment from someone who had just bought all 3 CDs off the merch stall and was queuing for an autograph - he had heard one track on the radio a few days ago and was their new biggest fan. Yeah, I can get that, my only regret is that I didn't get to all four UK gigs.