The Tough Alliance

19 March 2008 :: posted by Travis

The Tough Alliance – “First Class Riot” (YouTube)

This is gonna sound like some hipster shit, but only one band impressed me at SXSW: The Tough Alliance. They blew apart my brain, and I’m still picking up the pieces. TTA basically changed every expectation I have for a performance from a band… some serious mind altering shit here. Yeah, the video above is kinda old by blog standards, but “First Class Riot” sums up the experience — well plus instruments.

TTA might be too smart for America but hopefully the kids will some day take their vitamins and catch on.

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11 Comments:

1. I dunno…
   Everything I’ve been reading about them lately sounds so fucking pretentious…..



2. adum March 19th, 2008 at 9.09 pm

3. WORD UP! That performance… oh man! 15 min. of pure magic. I think only 4 of 5 people knew what was up but I’m sure all those not in the know got their wigs pushed back for sure.



4. Mark Gnar March 19th, 2008 at 9.09 pm

5. love their records, but went in to see them and was actually PISSED and left after 2 songs. not even a semblance of a performance. i’m not necessarily itching for all the instruments to be played live, but…half singing along to every other line while KINDA dancing and having a smoke machine going while the record plays in full behind you? bummer.



6. doorknobs March 19th, 2008 at 10.44 pm

7. I live in Oakland and traveled the distance to see them play in Los Angeles at the Echo. I can say honestly that being one of the people in the crowd of maybe 25, that my life will be changed forever. I’m in love. There will never be a band as enlightened as The Tough Alliance



8. Strata March 19th, 2008 at 10.58 pm

9. I’m glad that you appreciated their performance. I was very curious how the American audience would react to a TTA concert. I would very much like to experience one in America.

   doorknobs:
   “it’s not a question of understanding it man, if you feel it you feel it stupid”



10. Swede March 19th, 2008 at 11.01 pm

11. @doorknobs, how is it any different then seeing britney spears or something? most people go to a show for the experience… not to see how well a musician plays on stage. singing into an empty mic stand was so conceptually amazing it is still fucking my head.

    the performance was intense… more so than anything else i saw in austin.



12. Travis March 20th, 2008 at 1.26 pm

13. hahah, i love the first comment by adum. it’s so self-referential.

    tough alliance to take over (north america) in 2008!



14. mook March 20th, 2008 at 3.27 pm

15. Here in stockholm these guys are infamous for always lipsynching on their shows

    I take it they broke their britney routine at SXSW?



16. Anonymous March 20th, 2008 at 4.50 pm

17. My friends father is the manager of this band. They are from my hometown, Gotehenburg. I love em. But there is something wird with em. The often make shitty performances, getin on stage wasted and drunk. They act like they just dont give a f*ck. Okey, that might sometimes be a successfull attitude but in this case I think they should get their act together if the wanna make a bigger impact. But I guess thay wanna stick with being “underground”.



18. Rickard April 1st, 2008 at 10.17 am

19. They’ll make a splash for sure.



20. Wired April 1st, 2008 at 3.13 pm

21. @doorknobs: their point is to make you pissed :) they’ll keep on lipsyncing untill the day when noone will be pissed off by it – means never. Seeing them live is one of thethings I have to do before I die. Do they ever come to Denmark?



22. trne September 26th, 2009 at 5.13 am