Hailing from Amsterdam, Death Alley are making quite a name for themselves, and as such with the release of their special set at Roadburn last year as a live album, Ghost Cult decided to go see their release show in Utrecht. These shows they performed as Death Alley as a six piece, with the addition of Ron van Herpen and Jevin de Groot both on guitar. Known for their psychedelic infused hard rock that reminds of smoky back-room bars and topless dancing-girls, their live shows are known to be energetic and primal.

Opening tonight n the Ekko in Utrecht are a young band called Supersonic Blues. Their low n slow psych with sluggish vocals still lacks stage flair, but with a fair amount of guitar virtuosity and general technical skill. There’s some zing and fire missing still, which makes the band come off as a little dime a dozen, but as the show progresses they loosen up a little, and maybe with more road miles and stage experience these guys can become a solid band in the heavier psychedelic rock genre.

After a short change over, and the room filling up substantially more, as Mr. Roadburn; Walter spins us some tunes, Death Alley takes the stage. There is really only a few ways to describe Death Alley, and all of them include dirty or filthy. They take the groove from the late 60s, the good times from the 80s, the jams from the 70s and stir them all together, mix in a fair amount of punk attitude and high energy stage presence and freshen it all up enough to not sound dated in 2017.

The skill of the musicians, who all earned their stripes in several other bands, is never in any question, and while in the past Douwe Truijens vocals could be seen as the weaker link, these days his performances are getting stronger every time I see them. Carried by a backbone of drums laid down by Uno Bruniusson and the groove under the skilled fingers of bassist Dennis Duijnhouwer, it is impossible to not let loose when they play. This set is a bit jammier and tripper than their usual stuff, with extra guitar layers laid down by their guest performers, all led skilfully by Oeds Beyndal’s expert guitar work. Each member had his own role to play in involving the crowd, but centrepieces are Douwe, who probably sneaked his dance moves from Robert Plant, and Dennis Duijnhouwer, who’ll often lean over the crowd and swing his bass up to the ceiling. After their set ends you’ll feel sweaty, dirty, and like there wasn’t enough. The high intensity floodlight crowding the stage and drenching the band in sweat may have something to do with this, but the music itself thumps and pulsates with a primal sweatiness found in the deepest roots of rock and roll.

Sadly, after the few release shows of this album, the planned short tour through Europe had to be cancelled as the band suddenly parted ways with their bassist Duijnhouwer. Looking for a replacement of someone so integral to their performance has not proved easy, and meant that the April dates were also been cancelled including Desertfest London and Berlin. Hopefully we can catch them as support for Kadavar tour in autumn, by which time we hope they will find adequate replacement for their groovemaster. We also wish Dennis all the best with his future ventures, and will be keeping a close eye on him to come.

Death Alley Live at Roadburn is available for purchase through Tee Pee and Suburban records.

WORDS AND PHOTOS BY SUSANNE A. MAATHUIS