Touring their debut album Get There, Minor Alps play to a largely insipid Glasgow crowd at the ABC2.
That is no testament to their musical ability, far from it, more a sad reflection that the people of Glasgow have yet to discover the subtle and beautiful band that is Minor Alps.
Starting off with a Nada Surf song however, is an inspired choice; ‘I Wanna Take You Home’ gives the crowd a nice premonition of what’s to come.
‘If I Wanted Trouble’ is the first song played off their debut album and it shows the great correlation of shared vocals and delicate guitars that make Minor Alps.
The set is largely made up with songs from Get There, but the band also play songs from their separate, respective back catalogues. Hatfield’s ‘Such A Beautiful Girl’ and Nada Surf’s ‘Inside Of Love’ being massive set highlights.
The set has a laid back and relaxed vibe and the tempo remains constantly steady, one trivial criticism is that there was no variance in tempo, to anyone that is unfamiliar with any of the songs it may have sounded all very similar.
In defence to Minor Alps, it is hard to change the sound when it’s just two acoustic guitars and a programmed drumbeat.
The encore is quite possibly the highlight of the show, an acoustic version of ‘Bette Davies Eyes’ and a storming rendition of Nada Surf’s ‘Fruit Fly’ are tremendous live, it’s just a shame the crowd is so sparse and sullen; Minor Alps deserved better.
This is an extremely strong and tight set with a good ‘padding out’ with other material, its a strong compliment that Minor Alp’s material doesn’t sound out of place in contrast to Matthew Caw’s or Juliana Hatfield’s other bodies of work.
‘Maxon’ and ‘I Don’t Know What To Do With My Hands’ sound phenomenal live, this might sound archaic but it is entirely refreshing to see a good old-fashioned gig that is gimmick free.
Words: Andrew Melrose
Photos: John Graham
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