By Chris Hay 

No-one hates Alphabeat do they? They can’t - hating Alphabeat would be like hating puppies. No-one hates puppies. This Danish six-piece are cute, bouncy, fun and make you smile like crazy. Just like puppies.  

This gig at Newcastle Students Union was exactly what I’d hoped for – fantastic pop songs, bundles of energy and just a lot of happy faces. With the crowd chanting for the band for a good half hour before they came on, a sense of excitement filled the room, excitement which burst into life as Alphabeat opened their set with their first ever single Fantastic 6. Throughout the gig, the interaction between Anders and Stine, the two vocalists, was captivating as they charmingly swapped vocals with each other. Colourful, vibrant, bubbly, you can’t take your eyes off those two. Anders has unbelievable energy, bouncing around stage all night like a kid who’s had far too much sugar. Tracks like 10,000 Nights and Boyfriend inspired huge singalongs, which seemed to genuinely humble the band, so much so that they stopped to take a photo of the crowd to remember the moment. Awwwww… 

Pop music needs Alphabeat – they do pop as pop should be. They just make lovely pop songs to make people jump around and smile. No arrogance, no pretentiousness, no shoegazing, just upbeat tunes all night long. Until now, the happiest band I’d ever seen perform were Los Campesinos. Not anymore. It’s like Alphabeat were constantly high on laughter gas. At one point, Anders even threw out imaginary portions of ‘love’ to the crowd to thank us for the support. As a live act, their energy is inspiring.