After a long, hard and sometimes tricky week I wanted comfort food and music.
My Friday evening started in The Alba – on the road between Twickenham and Richmond. It’s a good sized bar – with lots of tables and chairs – and a restaurant area on the side.
While the pizzas here are amongst the best, last night the noise level from a large party was intolerable so we shifted outside. It’s a pleasant terrace with twinkly lights in the trees. But it was a little chilly and hard to hear the music (a guitarist and singer covering songs from Shania Twain to Dido) outside so we moved on.
My friend has raved about Alix Anthony since she saw him play at The Wharf in Teddington. She said he was a fabulous jazz-funk artist and that she had danced the night away when she saw him last.
So we made our way over to The Fox in Twickenham which was pretty much rammed – mostly with local young men. The baby-faced guitarist playing ballad covers (including Pink Floyd) clearly wasn’t Alix and, when we enquired, were told that there was a double booking.
Disappointed, we sat down in the quieter rear bar near the walled garden at the back to decide what to do. Then my friend spotted Jamian – Alix’s bass guitarist. He explained that they were playing the second set – due to start at 1015pm. I had a chat with Alix who told me about his early years in New York and Connecticut and the various gigs and open mike nights he does in West London – Brentford (Northumberland Arms) and Hampton Wick (The Swan).
It was almost 11pm when Alix finally started his set – after a quick change into a stylish top hat and a black and white checked jacket and much tweaking of the instruments, electronics and sound system.
The music was an interesting mix of Jimi Hendrix, James Brown and Prince. I particularly liked the cover of “Nothing compares 2 U”. There were blues, rock and jazz vibes and all accompanied by intricate guitar work, mellow vocals and a lot of head shaking and tongue flicking. While the girls danced seductively in front of him, the guys swayed and played air guitar at the back.
Alix is a charismatic performer and a sure-fire crowd-pleaser, and his charm feels real with his frequent modest comments that “I’m just jammin’”. It felt a little like serious guitar playing for a singalong crowd at times but there was a great connection with the audience.
So the week ended on a good note - with pizza and a good gig smoothing out the wrinkles.
