[The Progressive Aspect] The Pineapple Thief / Alex Henry Foster & the Long Shadows

As published in The Progressive Aspect

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The Pineapple Thief finally brought their long-delayed European tour to a triumphant end on ‘home ground’ in Bristol on Fireworks Night, which suitably ignited the excited fans in the packed venue. But before the main act the Bristol audience experienced a firecracker of a support band from Montreal, Canada…

Alex Henry Foster and The Long Shadows put on a truly remarkable set, managing to squeeze in three epic psychedelic songs in a staggering and mind-blowing 40-minutes. This was a mesmeric show full of apparently free-flowing and at times incendiary music, bubbling with intensity and invention. Alex Henry Foster is an engaging front man with eccentric charm and infectious enthusiasm, apparently ‘falling for Bristol’, both emotionally and rather comically nearly having a catastrophic fall in the first part of the gig. Alex’s band were tight and intuitive, seemingly telepathic in sensing where the song was going next, as it appears certain that these are organic performances with no two shows being exactly the same, the music spontaneously morphing and twisting almost magically. They opened powerfully with Ouverture, a special piece created just for the tour, and then followed that with the hypnotic Slow Pace of the Winds. Foster’s band are clearly multi-talented with performers swapping instruments, such as guitarist Ben Lemelin seemingly just as adept on drums and Miss Isabel switching from keyboards to clarinet, amongst others.

Halfway through the set, Alex announced what turned out to be the final song, The Hunter (By the Seaside Window) from his 2018 album Windows in the Sky, inspired by the tragic loss of his father and its profound effect upon him. The next twenty or so labyrinthine minutes were simply amazing and awe inspiring – I can safely say that this was one of the best performances by a support band I have ever seen… and I have seen a few in my time! The epic rolling psychedelic drama of this piece was performed with such intense drive and improvisational twists it was breath-taking, and also quite moving at times. Unexpected moments like this are why I STILL love going to gigs.

Right out of left field, an act I had never heard of blew me away with an amazing show full of passion, fire, unpredictability, imagination and inspirational brio. Alex Henry Foster is clearly a special talent and he is returning to the UK next summer with his band for some headline sets. All I can say is – make bloody sure you get to see them! A full two-hour mind-boggling set will probably melt your brains. You can thank me later.