Alabama 3

Photo credit: The Courier and Advertiser

Alabama 3, the renowned Country-Rock band, are coming to Exeter this December for yet another sell-out show. Celebrating their 20th anniversary, A3 have been hailed by The Guardian as the ‘best live band in the UK.’ To label them them simply as a Country-Rock band, however, would be misleading; the band who self identify as ‘country-house-acid’ and ‘crypto-marxist-leninist’ are genre-defying, mixing country music with soul, rock, punk-rock, gospel, techno, house and blues to achieve a unique sound that, 20 years on, is still new and fresh.

Perhaps best known for their masterpiece Woke Up This Morning, the title track for the cult-classic television series Sopranos as well as the song sampled by Nas on his Got Ur Self A…, Alabama 3 are no strangers to pop culture eminence despite being on the fringes of multiple alternative-music genres. Their lyrics are often very politically-charged, ranging from topics such as female-empowerment and social media to drug use in the music industry.

As it’s an anniversary tour, the band will be revisiting old classics (much to the joy of their dedicated long-term fan base) as well as their more recent hits. However, with tickets already sold out for their Phoenix show, it might be too late if you haven’t already purchased them. But if you have, then be prepared for a truly legendary night. To say the band is eclectic is an understatement. They formed whilst attending rehab in 90s Brixton, after which they wrote the most of their songs tripping on LSD. What came after was revolutionary.