Live Review: Ocean Alley
It was a damp, drizzly September evening as we ventured down through the North Laines heading towards the Brighton Dome. The good news, there were two bands to bring some Aussie sunshine on the horizon, like a small crock of gold waiting at the end of the Brighton Rainbow. This ray of light consisted of Ocean Alley and their support band Hockey Dad. They both had their entourages of mostly young antipodean fans, wearing a multitude of summer time T-shirts, many related to Ocean Alley who do have a knack for very snazzy designs. These were sold by the bucket load at the merchandising table.
Hockey Dad joined us onstage with the duo of drummer Billy Fleming and vocalist / guitarist Zach Stephenson, along with Steve Bourke who is playing bass on this tour. They launched into a string of fantastically catchy songs that were guitar driven with
a pop sensibility all possessing soaring choruses. One power pop tune after another, all admittedly in a similar vein but why break the mould if it works? As with many of the Australian bands present and past there is an unknown ingredient in their music that separates them from the USA and UK scene. You can smell the beach and the country’s influence in their songs. Thus it made a change to listen to their take on the art of garage/pop rock.
The Dome is for sure a historic venue and from Stephenson’s between song comments, a step up since their last visit to this coastal town for Hockey Dad. The crowd that had grown while they performed, started to get into the mood and started quite a throng during the last two songs “Seaweed” and “Join the club”. Hockey Dad left the stage job done.
The song “Confidence” has been more than good for Ocean Alley, it has had a life on its own. Thanks to social media it gains new fans everyday long after its initial success in 2018. This is the difference with music now, popularity isn’t always as obvious as a chart position it can translate into so many other ways of being heard and becoming well known. When the band wrote that song they knew they had “something” but its longevity must be a blessing they didn’t foresee. Of course “confidence” was in the set Monday night leading to many onlookers clambering upon a pal’s shoulders to sway in the yellows and oranges being shone across the room, a loving beach side groove that captured the moment and essence of this band in a coconut shell.
Laid back is a good way to start with when describing Ocean Alley, the instruments are coaxed into following the groove that was just hanging in there delicately holding it together while Baden Donegal croons his vocal lines leading to those massive choruses. The two or three guitars are clean and bright leaving plenty of space for those melodies to ebb and flow like the Northern Beach waves they know so well from back in Oz.
Songs like “Touch back down”, “home” and “Double Vision” coasted along beautifully, they are all from the last album released Low Altitude Living, the production on that album particlarly seems to take the laid back feel to even “lower” levels,
(see what I did there?). It has been about 2 years since that album was released, hopefully new songs are in the pipeline. They broke out of the mellow times with their faithfull cover of “Baby Come Back”, it hit the mark as a great Yacht Rock anthem, reproduced by the band with those velvety harmonies and basslines that were made famous by the band Player in 1977. A classic if you don’t already know it.
As we left the Dome after the set it was back into England’s reality check, the gentle drizzle that tickled our faces was a reminder that we had left the sunny beaches of Australia where we were residing for the last couple of hours or so.
Written by: Dan Reddick
Photographed by: Dan Reddick
02-09-24. Ocean Alley. The Brighton Dome. Brighton, UK.