AlterRed - Bring their dark cabaret to London again!

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Clockwork Mannequins hit Shoreditch!

​AlterRed **** were forced to cancel this show in July, so their is some anticipation behind tonights performance, even though the club is not that full. The bands sound tonight is a lot better because of the addition of Vix Vain on actual working keyboard rather than one with the wire cut at the front. This addition really beefs up the sound of the band, so they sound is competitive to other acts in their genre. 

Starting off with a nice long intro, you wonder when it is going to start but when it does it is in style. Hitting everything off with old track 'Nothing less than Violence' that is usually later in the bands set but shows that the band has grown into a unit that has a lot more material so can pick and choose what they play and when they play it.They move this onto the haunting spooky 'And the Machine' one of my favourite songs off the bands second album 'Dollstown'. This is mechanical clockwork at it's best and I love how this song dips an jumps around.

They go on with the brilliant 'Like April Fools' that is given a slight revamp and the stop starting 'A different Face' which tells us to rebuild and rewind and has a slight futuristic buzz to it. This mixes nicely into 'Better than Mending' like it always was meant to be put together. This is a dark side of the band that might not been explored before, like the slow sludger 'Dread' that hits back at you like a unwanted disease but you like it any ways. 

One of the bands original tracks 'The Patient' is still a live favourite even though it has changed slightly over the years in the way they play it but still has the great keys and feel to it like mannequins moving in time to the music. It isn't until 'And we Disappear' that we realise this band could go onto prime time radio, this song has a Pop edge to it and Mikey's vocals sound great on it and Jake Hell really comes to life on the guitar like he was born to be in this band. They end the set with the fantastic fast paced 'Fleshbind' and we see the whole stage vanquished to the ground in a flash. 

This is a great band that more people should really listen to, because they have so much to offer and just get better and better and darker and darker from album to album. Their latest album 'The Time it takes to Smile' is Out Now! and well worth a purchase.

AlterRed - Setlist
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Intro
Nothing less than Violence
And the Machine 
Like April Fools
A different Face
Better than Mending 
Dread
The Patient
And we Disappear
Fleshbind

Review and Photo's by Dan Devour

Check Out! the Video for 'And we Disappear' Below...