I understand that this is a thing that seems to get churned out at every landmark anniversary for every album that made an impact on anyone, but… that being said; I still find it incredibly strange that Alt-J’s Mercury Prize-winning debut An Awesome Wave has hit its 10^th anniversary. That might be something to do with me in particular, seeing as Alt-J were one of the first bands that caught my attention simply because they were a bit odd. But my personal feelings aside, anyone in their mid-20s with an affiliation for art-pop or alternative indie is going to have an absolute field day at the band’s anniversary show at London’s Brixton Academy. Set to go ahead on May 17^th, the band have promised to perform their debut in full, tickets for the show go on sale at 10am BST next Friday (April 22^nd) here. Until then though, you’ll have to get away with a new performance of an Alt-J classic. See below a performance of “Breezeblocks” on BBC Radio 6 from February.

I think most would agree with me when I say that Alt-J never really topped their debut, but that’s not through lack of trying. An Awesome Wave was so fresh and clean that when we all got our first taste of the band, it was hard to put your finger on where this sound came from, and what they would end up doing next. The next few albums churned out a few great singles, “3WW” from RELAXER, and “Hunger Of The Pine” from This Is All Yours are personal highlights, but overall the LPs never quite reached the same level of cohesion that the debut did. That doesn’t mean the band have lost all of their charm though. The amount of off the wall ideas that you can squeeze into a series of albums over a decade, and still come out with something that sounds, ultimately, like an Alt-J album… is astounding. The pure creativity has always been the one thing you can rely on.

To celebrate the 10 year anniversary of the album that changed our lives, we’re playing an extra show at Brixton Academy where we will play An Awesome Wave in full. Tickets on Friday 22nd April, 10am BST. https://t.co/MDdbFL3N82 pic.twitter.com/bDkunsytla

— Δ (alt-J) (@alt_J) April 14, 2022

The show comes in the middle of an already announced tour of the UK, a 14^th date has been added to the beginning of the group’s now 4-night residency of Brixton Academy. About half of the tour has already sold out, but you can see here for full details on any of the full tour. See below for the full list of dates on The Dream Tour:

6/5/22 – Barrowland Ballroom – Glasgow
7/5 – Barrowland Ballroom – Glasgow
9/5 – O2 Academy – Leeds
10/5 – O2 Academy – Bristol
12/5 – Rock City – Nottingham
13/5 – O2 Apollo – Manchester
17/5 – O2 Academy Brixton – London (An Awesome Wave Anniversary Show)
18/5 – O2 Academy Brixton – London
19/5 – O2 Academy Brixton – London
20/5 – O2 Academy Brixton – London
22/5 – Olympia Theatre – Dublin
23/5 – Olympia Theatre – Dublin
25/5 – The Telegraph Building – Belfast
27/5 – O2 Academy – Birmingham