Music > Live Reviews

Wolf Alice

The Nick Rayns LCR, UEA

18/11/17

18 months ago, Wolf Alice left a sold-out UEA LCR crowd in reverie after a monumental set. Last night, they did it again. Yet the show last night felt more alive, more electric, so alight the room felt as if it were pulsating. The ferocity of Ellie Rowsell, Wolf Alice’s frontwoman, is never anything short of breathtaking.

Opening the night at the decidedly early 6.50pm is Birmingham’s Superfood. Signed to the same label as Wolf Alice, Dirty Hit, Superfood carry the suave coolness and formidability as their headliners. Their sound is bouncy, eclectic indie tinged with essences of dub, reggae, hip hop, and my gosh does it translate well to a live performance. The duo’s second album ‘Bambino’ brought them back from the musical abyss, and if their set tonight was anything to go by, that abyss is a long, long way away from the boys just yet.

The danceability of Superfood’s poppy tracks gives way to New York’s glitteriest shoegazers, Sunflower Bean. The trio, who seem to have mastered cool gloom, begin their set with a new track, but quickly launching into the reverb-laden style of their grungey debut album. Frontwoman Julia Cumming is effervescent, almost, in appearance, her wispy white hair and glittery outfit showcasing the band’s stylish sound.

Half an hour later, the unadulterated shoegaze of Wolf Alice’s latest single ‘Heavenward’ fills the room as the four-piece take to the stage. ‘Heavenward’ is emotive, unrestricted, and soft, the band’s performance striking as immediately seamless. From the first note, it’s evident the quartet were born to play together, as if they pick up their instruments and fall into place as one. The breezy grunge of ‘Heavenward’ bleeds into the aggressive punk of ‘Yuk Foo’ without a breath, and Ellie Rowsell is screaming into her microphone, leading the band with explosive passion and fire. Theo Ellis, our bassist, is a jittery winger, matching the flank of rugged Joff Oddie, guitarist, and wordless drummer Joel Amey. The four, together, mismatch, but in a way that works so well.

The show takes itself down a notch with the unashamed love song ‘Don’t Delete the Kisses’, where Ellie stares past the audience, singing the self-deprecating yet gloriously romantic lyrics to the wall, perhaps imagining the person she wrote it for. Yet the band bring it back up again almost immediately, with their iconic ‘Bros’, a heartwarming tale of friendship and alliance.

Second record ‘Visions of A Life’ tended to lean more on alternative and grunge than the sometimes soft debut ‘My Love is Cool’, and this is clearly translated into ‘Visions’ tour. ‘Moaning Lisa Smile’ from second EP is still volcanic, the screaming chorus booming throughout the LCR. ‘Fluffy’, the heaviest 2-minute song from ‘My Love is Cool’ ends the first part of the show, Ellie screaming the lyrics until her voice breaks.

As far as encores go, Wolf Alice have wholeheartedly, as they say, nailed it. The malleability of debut EP track ‘Blush’, and the stark ferocity of debut album lead single ‘Giant Peach’ are perfect oxymorons, sonically worlds apart yet unavoidably apt in conducively and cogently ending a show. What else can they do but play their two most painfully good songs to end?

Wolf Alice have been around for a while. Two albums in, they’re arguably one of the best young bands in the country right now. Perhaps even the best young band in the country right now. It’s only a matter of time before they’re selling out arenas, headlining A-List festivals, and doing what they’re doing now, but bigger. Watch out world, because Wolf Alice aren’t going anywhere.