Levi's Ones To Watch: Johnny Foreigner

+ Tom Allalone

The Fly, London - 9 Nov 2007

by Jon Fletcher

Up close and personal with Birmingham's finest

"The vocal partnership of Alexei (the ostensible frontman) and Kelly (the bass player) creates a sort of home brew stereo effect, duties see-sawing from one to the other"

All pictures © Jon Fletcher / New Noise

Why some bands dress in uniform is always something of a mystery. There’s a suspicion that it might have more to do with the confidence and camaraderie of those on stage than impressing the audience with sartorial splendour and if so, it seems to have worked for Tom Allalone.

This is a band handicapped from the off – say their name quickly in a loud and crowded bar, perhaps in answer to the question, “Who are these guys again?”, and it sounds like “Tom or alone”. Which leaves people asking, “Well, which? Weird.”


Tom Allalone | Worth chequing out. Sorry.

Once they actually start playing though, they’re not bad – sassy and punchy and bluesy and brash – and they have a trumpet. To be sure, it all gets a little predictable after a while, but it’s still early doors and there’s every possibility that a couple more listens might reveal a subtlety it’s difficult to pick out the first time around.

They’re followed by Johnny Foreigner. We’ve grown so tired of listening to those who’ve seen this lot live banging on about how great they are, we’re crammed into the tiny downstairs flea pit at the Fly tonight primarily to find out what all the fuss is about. And when one of our number says, with genuine feeling, that this is the sort of gig that justifies the existence of little venues like this, we can’t help but agree.



Johnny Foreigner are a three-piece that sound like a six-piece, producing a frenetic churn of shouted slogans and cartwheeling guitars. The vocal partnership of Alexei (the ostensible frontman) and Kelly (the bass player) creates a sort of home brew stereo effect, duties see-sawing from one to the other.

The whole show is infused with enthusiasm and energy but the band still manages to incorporate some ebb and flow, gentler songs like ‘This Band Is Killing Us’ balancing the schizophrenic fervour of ‘The End And Everything’.


Double act | Bass player Kelly's vocals are core to the band's sound

Alexei handles his guitar as though it’s both friend and foe, throttling it one moment; cradling it the next. His sense of the songs is conveyed through his movements too – hurling himself about until soaked with sweat, his a-symmetrical haircut matted to his face.

At the end of the show, the pantomime of the encore is replaced with heartfelt demands for more – including from some fans who loudly inform Alexei they’ve travelled from France for the gig. We couldn’t agree more – it’s one of our sets of the year and the finest possible way to close out Levi’s four-day live music bender.

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