The enigma that is Alabama 3, the world’s only acid house country band, are the perfect strong finish to 2025. Holographic suits, raving to John Pine covers and even the AI resurrection of deceased co-founder Reverend D Wayne Love take second place to the overwhelming sense of joy in an eclectic community that’s coalesced around their charismatic music.
Alabama 3 @ O2 Shepherds Bush Empire
“We put the big song at the beginning to give you the opportunity to leave the room,” warns vocalist Larry Love, “things are going to get weird…” He’s referring to Woke Up This Morning, Alabama 3’s late nineties hit, which they drop fourth in their set, and of course our phones raise on reflex to capture the track’s blend of nonchalant cool, loose breakdowns and chemical freshness. While we love it, the moments of ‘getting weird’ are what we’re here for, and once they’ve met their obligation to drop the song they’re known for, the bass rises and the pressure releases. Speed Of The Sound Of Loneliness is packed with their trademark heartwarming oddness: a psychedelic post modern hoedown brimming with sincere gospel energy that just works.
Alabama 3 @ O2 Shepherds Bush Empire
Their gleeful defiance of the rules of a show extends like sunshine to everything Alabama 3 touch onstage. Losing a vocalist might stop a lesser band in their tracks, but instead D Wayne Love is still very much part of the show, preaching via videos and vocals recorded before his passing. As the band drop to their knees to pray for his blessing during Ain’t Going To Goa in between harmonica breakdowns and bouncing beats, the fantastic artificially of the performance lends itself perfectly to a band with so many layers of lore built up over the years. There’s probably a rule somewhere about mentioning communism that many times onstage, but that’s resoundingly ignored too: Woody Guthrie is cheekily dedicated to Nigel Farage, and Mao Tse Tung Said draws on protest riot energy, complete with melodic touches and firm gospel grip on the house beats.
Alabama 3 @ O2 Shepherds Bush Empire
Alabama 3’s energy is firmly matched by the tribe they’ve gathered around them since their inception: the ravers for whom it was never a phase, the genre rebels, and those who just want to dance to music that touches them. Their ‘narcocorrido’, Margarita Time, pitches from latin surreality into a rowdiness among the crowd, and Hello… I’m Johnny Cash results in holiday camp waving and an unusually emotional organ finish. Fan favourite Too Sick To Pray utilises unexpected rock guitar solos to transmute the eerie energy on the recording into a slamming number before U Don’t Dans 2 Tekno gently eases into the after party as an elder raver anthem. Bookending their set with the latest single, Sex Machine Learning, just to remind us what they’re still capable of, sends us bouncing into the night, our ears ringing with a new classic.
Alabama 3 prove there will always be a place in the world for the pleasure of musical innovation, and nothing is going to hold them back as they spin into a another year of melting their passions together to create something gloriously original.
Review of Alabama 3 at O2 Shepherds Bush Empire on 13th December 2025 by Kate Allvey, photography by Simon Reed
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