The Alarm 2.0 rolled in to the Lexington bringing along like minded musicians to open for them for their faithful fanbase. The Lexington is one of my favorite venues, intimate and friendly, and I’m grateful for their continued existence and promotion of amazing live music line ups. Running a music venue these days can’t be an easy thing and we need to cherish spaces like this. The combination of a great venue and music from a band I love on a Friday night meant that there was no place I’d rather be. Before the main event there were two opening acts (Explode the TV and Billy Liberator) that I had never had the pleasure of seeing before now.
Explode the TV
Explode the TV opened the proceedings, after swapping places with Billy Liberator, providing a captivating performance with their jagged indie/80s alternative sounding set. The band started with a few water themed songs ‘Catching the Rain’ and ‘Pure Water’ both propulsive and catchy and entertaining. ‘1+1=3’ is a fun, indie song that bounces along like the Cribs. Max MacDonald throwing off jagged, dreampop riffs casually while Bentley throws rock star front-man shapes as an entertaining focal point. Chris Krizz on drums and Andy Skipsey providing the bedrock for their songs particularly on ‘Stratosphere’. The band include a cover of ‘Let’s Dance’ which went down well with the crowd and which does justice to the David Bowie song. A terrific opening set from a band that I recommend checking out and supporting their music.
Billy Liberator
Billy Liberator, a singer songwriter from the South West of England, played a solo set which built nicely and was very enjoyable. Billy’s set included songs drawing from his catalogue and a few Alarm covers which were well received by the crowd. Billy’s connections with the Alarm include having albums produced by Steve ‘Smiley’ Barnard and his well crafted songs are similarly spirited. As he told us during the set he drew inspiration from the band when writing ‘Look What We Started’ written while in Wales. He told us that his 15 year old self would never have believed he would be here opening for the band. Billy’s energetic, honest songwriting deserves a bigger platform which I hope he finds. He closed off his set with Alarm covers ‘Lie of the Land’ and ‘Only the Thunder’. He played these songs which clearly mean a lot to him as he dedicated them to an old friend he used to travel the country for Alarm gigs together.
The Alarm 2.0
The Alarm are a Welsh band that formed in 1981 with a line up of Mike Peters, Dave Sharp, Eddie MacDonald and Nigel Twist who were well known for their anthemic music. The band split up a decade later when Mike Peters left which led to various iterations since then. Mike Peters sadly passed away in 2025 after battling cancer for 30 years. He founded Love Hope Strength Foundation to raise awareness and increase the number of donors supporting people with cancer which has done incredible work for this cause.
The Alarm 2.0 was formed not simply as a tribute but also to bring fresh perspective on the music of The Alarm first playing together in December 2025 at the Lexington. The line up includes a number of musicians who have been in band including Eddie MacDonald (12 years), James Stevenson (25), Steve ‘Smiley’ Barnard (15) Craig Adams (22) and Dave Blackman. They are touring now and planning a special weekend set of concerts called The Reunion including other original band members Dave Sharp and Nigel Twist in August this year.
‘Knife Edge’ with its synth riff intro provided by Dave Blackman was a powerful opener with its themes about resilience in the face of hardship through optimism. This is a recurring theme of The Alarm whose spirited music meant so much to me when I was a teenager and still does now. The audience tonight probably leaned towards an older crowd so there were likely a few people with similar experiences to mine. The set drew heavily from Declaration and Strength with a few other songs from other albums.
Eddie spoke about the importance to the band of seeing Bruce Springsteen on his Born in the U.S.A tour and how discussions with Little Steven helped shape two of the songs played tonight (‘Deeside’ and ‘Spirit of 76’). Eddie shared that Little Steven suggested that they write about where they were from to bring their stories to life. The shared themes of dying industries, the impact on those communities and social justice are evident. The band wanted to build the same connection with their fans as they saw Springsteen doing and in my view did so admirably.
Introducing ‘The Stand’ Eddie told us how the song was inspired both by the Stephen King novel and Kirk Brandon (of Theatre of Hate and Spear of Destiny). The song along with ‘Marching On’ and most of the set were met with energetic singalongs from the crowd. The music of the Alarm lives on, the connection with the audience and simple joy of singing the song’s refrains filling the Lexington was such a positive experience. As Eddie has said they want to carry the spirit and want to do justice to the songs that they have been part of, not reinventing the songs but keeping them fresh which they have done tonight.
The Alarm 2.0 are a group of incredible musicians with a lot of experience captured the music of The Alarm. They paid tribute to the person who signed them to Illegal Records and the sliding doors moment of being recognized and supported by them (later to be known are I.R.S records). Eddie introduced ‘Tell Me’ a song written by Dave Sharp as being asked to sit down while Dave played the song he had written and how they were blown away by it. The band reminding us all just how incredible The ALarm were back in their heyday with renditions of ’68 Guns’ and ‘Rescue Me’ and how good it is to hear them played so well and with such pride.
Their final song appropriately was ‘Blaze of Glory’ which brought on one of the night’s biggest singalongs only ending a little early due to time restrictions in the venue. The night ended with the crowd singing without the band. The crowd singing “Going out in a blaze of glory, Going out with my heart wide open, going out with my hands held high” lifting out spirits and filling our hearts after a triumphant celebration of this wonderful Welsh band and it’s departed lead singer Mike Peters. Mike Peter’s presence was felt in the songs he helped create, in the enthusiastic performances and in the love from the audience tonight.
Billy Liberator: Website, Facebook
Explode the TV: Website, Facebook
The Alarm 2.0: Website
Article by Jason McDonald
Review and Photos by: Jason McDonald
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