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House of Blues, Anaheim The Alarm proved to be another one of those shows that left me wondering if I'm too old to still be doing this crap. Plagued by an audience of drunken losers who think a mosh pit entails being drunk, rude and obnoxious without any semblance of courtesy or fun, the show ended up seeming somewhat interminable. For their part though the 40-something crowd sure seemed to like these guys. I'd honestly forgotten how many songs The Alarm had written over the years that I'd actually heard of. It surprised me to recall a good portion of their playlist from the old days of listening to KROQ in the 80s. Hmm. Never really thought they were that successful short of 68 Guns. In any event, sporting the original singer Mike Peters, and nobody else from the original lineup, it ended up being more of a one man show than a group reunion. It was kewl to find out that the guitarist, bass player, and drummer had all put in time with band I liked a lot better (Generation X, Sisters of Mercy), so that was kind of a highlight of the night. Mike's voice was a little tired and there wasn't much tricky musicianship from any corner of the stage, but it was acceptable and the crowd (who was foaming at the mouth over these guys) generally ate them up. If they would only be willing to see some of the other shows I've seen lately, lol. Anyway, it was pointed out to me during the performance that Peters looked a lot like a blonde Ozzy Osbourne and goddamn it he did ... that one little comment pretty much gave me the giggles for the rest of the night every time I looked at him. I can't say I'd recommend seeing these guys unless you're a fan. They seem to have heart and put on a good, decent show, but it's very plain-wrap vanilla rock and roll. It may have been edgy and new in the 80s, but now it's just plain tired. You can find The Alarm's homepage here. |
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