Alessi's Ark / Ralfe Band / Georgie Rose

Nottingham – not known as a graveyard for touring acts. Most bands that I see playing in Jake Bugg's hometown are treated well and when the acts get it right, more often than not, the audience are on hand to lap it up. My guess is that Alessi's Ark won't be in any hurry to rush back to Nottingham though after tonight's showing. This was an Ark-crash of a set. I'm pretty sure that when the band left the stage, at the end of their set, they were fully expecting whoops and hollers from the audience – they'd come back onto the stage and offer their special encore songs – but it didn't work out like that. The house lights didn't come on, no booming folk soundtrack, just silence, brief, sporadic applause, polite appreciation. To say that Alessi had lost her audience implies that she had at some stage found them. There was no connection here and no encore. Arkward in the extreme.

The night started brightly as well. Georgie Rose has been creating a bit of a stir around these parts now for the last year or so with her take on smoky Southern Americana. Tonight, she's got a full band (electric and bass guitar, drums and violin) to accompany her acoustic guitar and Adele-like voice. There's power and confidence here that belies her young years as she sings of sweet temptations, the twenty mile road (between Mansfield and Nottingham no doubt) and the devil in roadside diners. At times, I'm reminded of Jesse Sykes and the Sweet Hereafter. It's not a set without fault – her backing band could gain a collective personality and lose their sixth form style but I don't doubt that'll come with time. Jake Bugg's 'Country Song' is getting serious Radio 1 airplay at the mo and it'd be a foolish man who bets against Georgie Rose's Country tinged songs following suit.

It's a hard act for The Ralfe Band to follow and they make a half-decent stab at it in truth. The Ralfe Band appear as The Ralfe Duo tonight. "It's Government cutbacks", Olly Ralfe informs us as the lo-fi ethic and half a drumkit threatens to dwarf everything about the band. New single, 'Go Wild' gets the crowd mildly excited but it isn't until Ralfe exchanges his guitar for keyboard that this short set really starts to travel. We're going on a European roadtrip courtesy of a piece from their 'Bunny And The Bull' soundtrack and we won't stop until we get to Japan (at times there are David Sylvian comparisons to be drawn). The duo swap instruments after every song. There's waltzing now with keyboard and trumpet, conjuring up images of French cafe culture. A washboard is produced and they end their set flying high with 'Crow', steadfastly refusing to be pigeon-holed. Enjoyable.

On record, I really like Alessi's Ark. I've been playing new album, 'The Still Life' pretty much permanently since it came out last week (and I still enjoy her previous two records) so it shouldn't be a hard task for Alessi Laurent-Marke to convince me of her qualities tonight. I'm even prepared to overlook the fact that she looks unnervingly like Sissy Spacek in Carrie – long hair, severe fringe, a Yeah Yeah Yeahs T-shirt tucked into an elasticated triangular patterned skirt and white tights. Set opener 'Sans Balance' with English and French verses is pleasant enough, meandering along at a sedate pace. The Ark are a three piece band tonight and in these opening 'Tin-Smithing' moments we appreciate the shimmering guitar and cymbal side order they serve up. It feels a bit like Suzanne Vega doing Mazzy Star.

. "How are you doing? You seem very quiet. Did you get told off today or something?" asks Alessi, four songs in and in her first attempt to converse with the quarter full room. There's an edge to what she's saying. She almost appears pissed off that the audience is light and that their attention appears wayward (even though it's respectful and background chatter is kept to a minimum). "Thanks for choosing this over the pubs and the television", translates as "how can people find pubs and television more compelling than me?" Alessi and band let us know that they're rattling through their setlist tonight trying to make us feel guilty for not interacting enough with them, for not getting what they're trying to do. "This is a very calm Nottingham" feels like another accusation, a final nail in the coffin. Alessi is seemingly unaware that it's the soporific, one paced, merging of songs that has contributed to that mood.

. Some critics of 'The Still Life' have drawn attention to the fact that many of the songs on the album are ridiculously short in length. It doesn't detract from my enjoyment of the album but could it be that this tonight contributes to the disjointed feel of the set. Undeniably, there are moments of real folk beauty within this set. 'Veins are Blue' and lead single from the album, 'The Rain' are stand-out moments perhaps because they're three minutes or so in length and allow us some time to settle. When Alessi dips into her back catalogue and plays 'Memory Box' and 'The Robot', I wonder if she still has time to pull this back from the brink – but sadly these beautiful moments are few and far between. As the set draws towards its final moments, I emit a yawn and wish that I was somewhere else..

. We all have bad days at work. I'm guessing that this should be filed under that for Alessi. I am sure that on other nights of this tour things will all click into place but tonight the pub or the TV would have been a better choice.

FUTURE GIGS

sorry, we currently have no gigs listed for this act.