The Alarm’s Mike Peters at the 02 Academy, Newcastle, 2016. Photograph by Ian D. Hall.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
In troubled times, when the glow of the knife edge seems to radiating heat and venom beyond that which is tolerable in the world, Mike Peters words to The Alarm song Where Were You Hiding When The Storms Broke? seems to take on a meaning that makes the nerve endings in the spine shudder but with steely resolve not to be found wanting when the hard decision is put your way. It is in the courage of conviction to make the choice which will either see you popular or see you determined by history to be right.
Faith, Hope and Strength has been Mike Peters watchwords and with every reason to continue searching for that quality in everyone that he meets and who takes on the cause offered with outstretched hand; it is a cause that must be allowed to flourish, for in the anger of 21st Century, in the uncertainty that plagues the world, only art in all its perfect rawness seems to makes sense.
It was a making of sense, of the unifying forces that collided in Newcastle’s 02 Academy as The Alarm blistered into action as support to The Stranglers and paved the way for the rallying call of educated and meaningful lyrics being pounded out as if each word, each syllable was a announcement of war, a battle that must be joined if the world is to ever live in harmony again, or at least tolerate in a far more beautiful fashion than it is or has ever done.
Opening up for The Stranglers on tour can be a hit or miss affair, there have been some acts that have been head scratching off pulse with the whole ethos of the night, not so when it comes to The Alarm, the sheer enjoyment of catching the band live over the years, of taking the lyrics to a place where they can be nurtured and allowed to breathe, is almost on the verge of bliss. As they stormed the set with songs such as Super Channel, 68 Guns, In The Poppyfields, 45 R.P.M and The Spirit of 76, the anger of expression burned with delicious brightness, this is still a battle worth fighting for, worth being alive for and the music of the alarm always is infectious enough to keep that war against ignorance and hate going.
To have The Alarm still immeasurably performing with gusto, charm and passion is one of the reasons why audiences still rate the band as arguably one of the finest to ever come out of Wales and in all honesty perhaps one of the most lyrically sincere, is a deep and resounding pleasure; there is no fading out on the horizon, nor must there ever allowed to be.
Ian D. Hall