With two gigs taking place at the Dreamland venue, it’s a busy night in Margate. Most people are assembled at the Scenic Stage to witness a double headliner between Orbital and Leftfield, marking the end of this year’s big outdoor shows for the summer. A more select crowd have chosen to spend the evening indoors at the Hall By The Sea welcoming Ocean Alley, visiting heroes from Australia.

Ocean Alley haven’t made a major breakthrough in Britain, at least not in the old school way. ‘Confidence’, the single that saw the band achieving multi-platinum status in their home country, spent a whole week at #100 on the UK chart, and they don’t seem to have been particularly present on film soundtracks and the like. And yet, thanks to exposure on social media platform TikTok, the wholly independent band have a huge and dedicated following. Huge enough to see them selling out London’s Roundhouse and getting a second date added the following night. The fact that they’ve dropped a Margate gig into their itinerary is impressive, and even though the venue is only three quarters full, the fans seem to be expecting a great night.

If you’ve read anything about this band at all, chances are you’ve seen them labelled as “surf rock”, “a psychedelic band from Australia” or even a band “with Pink Floyd elements”. Bizarrely, none of these labels fit. They’re only psychedelic in the sense that lead guitarist Angus Goodwin seems to spend a lot of time dropping in musical fills via a wah-wah pedal, and as for anything vaguely surf related, their core sound summons up imagery of a half-stoned, lacklustre afternoon at the beach. The word very few people seem to be using is reggae, and that’s strange, since almost everything that fills tonight’s set resembles light, easy reggae tunes reworked by a yacht rock combo. Their music has no edge; nothing about it wants to challenge, and it certainly isn’t alternative…or rock of any kind. The band, however, sound great, and the sound mix in the venue is absolutely spot on.

The clarity in the sound is evident from the off. Opening with ‘Touch Back Down’, the air is filled with steady beats and wavering guitar lines, and there’s a clear separation between the instruments. The bass is more prominent, bringing more warmth than their studio recordings and Ocean Alley quickly settle into an easy sound. Hitting the track’s chorus which aims to punch a little harder, frontman Baden Donegal stretches the melody accordingly, and is in good voice, even though he’s not necessarily a great performer in the traditional sense. During an equally mellow ‘Tombstone’, there’s a little more focus on Angus’s guitar sounds as he throws ringing tones atop a slower rhythm, with the mix of reggae and soul creating a nonchalant musical backdrop, and into moving swiftly into ‘Knees’, there’s a feeling that despite being musically smooth and incredibly tight, Ocean Alley really don’t care for tempo changes. This track, on this occasion, is practically indistinguishable from the previous two numbers. Despite this, bassist Nic Blom offers a warm and encompassing sound, and the laid back vibes are very well received by the crowd.

The announcement of a previously unreleased tune creates a little excitement within the audience, and the solo voice and guitar opening the brand new ‘Tangerine’ finally promises a tonal shift. However, once the intimate introduction is complete, everything slinks into another slow groove where pop meets reggae, and Ocean Alley churn out another variant of their favourite riff. A dip into 2022’s ‘Low Altitude Living’ brings a well played double hit comprising ‘Home’ and ‘Double Vision’ – slow numbers dominated by airy guitar and non-committal vocals that could be inter changable with any number of Ocean Alley jams – before things shift from slow to comatose with ‘The Comedown’, a stoner-ish anthem that takes a reggae rhythm, adds a few chunky guitars and then fails to capitalise on anything especially memorable. This might work for the slightly wazzed beach crowd, but as a centrepiece for a big Saturday night gig, it doesn’t pack much of a punch. The fans are well into this, of course, and watching the sound man at work, the technical crew are working just as hard to make everything flow seamlessly.

This would be a good time to hit the crowd with something with a bit of drive. Instead, another pairing from ‘Low Altitude Living’ offers a light, reggae, soul and yacht rock-ish blend that begins to feel all to indistinct, and reaching the mid point of a long set, the repetitious Ocean Alley sound has started to feel a bit middle aged and tedious. It’s only with ‘Yellow Mellow’ there’s actually a discernable change when the drums come with a slightly bigger punch. Tom O’Brien lifts everything to allow for a rare change in tempo and mood, which also allows Blom to tease with more of a funk oriented bass. It’s a definite improvement, and ‘Paradise a Burn’ also stands out, since it comes with a big drum intro, before the band take the leap from a hazy, easy listening approach to a more committed reggae sound, delivering something with the weight of an old Steel Pulse number and capturing a more obvious groove. It’s here it becomes obvious that Blom is absolutely vital in anchoring the Ocean Alley sound. There are noodly guitars and sometimes strong rock-pop vocals, but it really is all about that bass, and when Blom actually bothers to punch forward, taking the band from their typically beige sound towards a harder reggae groove, the band become a little more interesting.

Not that this lasts for long. Soon enough the sextet slunk back into their musical comfort blanket with a couple more numbers that are practically indistinguishable from at least seven they’ve previously played. Then, a familiar intro floats over the audience, and within eight notes of ‘Confidence’, the crowd becomes a sea of phones. Tonight, the much-loved hit is performed well, but doesn’t actually sound any more special than the bulk of the material that’s already been played, making it even more surprising that it appears to have spoken to the social media crowd on a massive scale. Then, in an unexpected move, a cover of Player’s ‘Baby Come Back’ fully explores the band’s easy listening interests. This was a massive hit in Australia in the late 70s, and actually marks the only time the band shares something that was a genuine UK success. It’s very well played, as you’d expect. The fans absorb the song as if it were one of Ocean Alley’s own – swaying, dancing, and in some cases even singing – despite the vintage track being older than some of tonight’s ticket buyers. Pulling the set to a close with ‘Happy Sad’, there’s a chance to experience something that sounds like the dozenth variation on a theme, only this time it’s coupled with some fairly average lyrics, but almost everyone seems delighted, anyway…

Across a seventeen song set, tonight, the musicianship has been impressively tight – pretty much cruise ship tight. There’s been almost nothing back that up, however. Most of the songs have sounded alarmingly similar, and beyond a few lights, Ocean Alley have no actual show to speak of. Five of their six members have spent the entire set rooted to the spot, and even Donegal does very little to engage with his audience. Not that any of this bothers their clearly adoring fans. Pretty much everyone in the room hangs off every note and gets caught up in the band’s massively easy vibe. And that’s what this is. Easy. It’s a reminder that music, for some – and very obviously the average Ocean Alley fan – is about having a mood colourant; wanting something to create a pleasant sonic backdrop and very little else. It’d be hard to give this band anything but full marks for sheer professionalism, but sadly, on this night, there’s been very little in the way of genuine musical excitement.

Words by Lee Realgone
Photo by Katy

September 2024