As soon as Tai Tai Alibi came onto the stage the atmosphere changed dramatically. These guys were veterans to the Underground circuit and this time they came with a new Bassist, Rafe. He fitted in really well, providing some back-up vocals and looking like one of the seasoned veterans. Though, I couldn’t really hear him over Tim’s unique voice which immediately struck a chord with my heart as I became ‘Lost In You‘. I could see why these guys opened for the Manic Street Preachers. They are that good. They had the crowd cheering before they had even finished the first song. Wow!

After a roar of applause from the crowd, the guys went onto play ‘Strawman‘ which sounded a bit like Soundgarden, one of my favourite bands. They asked if the music was loud enough, which it was. I could feel the chords throughout my body. The crowd seemed to enjoy what they heard and even jumped around a little bit.

The guys cycled through their set almost effortlessly and played one of their more well know numbers, ‘Cycle‘. This was definitely a crowd favourite. More than likely many of the people there would have heard this song off the Underground Compilation CD #1. It is definitely one of my favourite songs off the CD. It is full of catchy riffs and lyrics which makes you want to sing along to, “Too late, too late, too late, too late! I’m falling down!”

Their fourth song, ‘Little More Empty‘, was a song about people buying shit that they don’t need. Definitely a crime that I am guilty of too, so I could relate. This song started with some heavy drums that put us into jungle mode, until the guitar and vocals kicked in. Then it had a totally different feel. 90’s grunge with beautiful guitar solos and a great drumbeat. Matt on drums gave us a great performance. What I noticed about him was that he was full of expression and had a good rapport with Chris, the guitarist, who would turn to play to him and get him in on the action. Tai Tai Alibi have a great stage presence, all the members of the band, and it is really obvious that they enjoyed performing on stage for us. They all had smiles on their faces and moved along to the beat.

The next song started slowly, but soulfully, with another dramatic drumbeat. Tim continued to keep the crowd enthralled with his superb voice while he sang ‘Run‘. But, we did not feel the need to run away.

In their last song, ‘Today‘, they asked the crowd to “Throw your hands up” and the crowd did so enthusiastically. But, by this stage people were filtering out of The Melting Pot, having been musically exhausted by the band’s unrelenting musicianship. The guys really beat it out at the end and finished with a huge climax that tore the roof down. Drummer rolls and all. Really a great performance by all the members of the band. I don’t have anything negative to say about these guys, except that when the crowd cheered for one more song, they didn’t answer the call. It was a long night. But, oh what a night.
Cain (F.B.I. vocalist)