As one of the rising stars of the indie-rock scene, Wolf Alice have been on quite the journey. With their new album, The Visions of a Life, recently debuting, the band were quick to get back on tour and make their presence felt. Having interviewed the band several hours before, I felt it was only right to see whether the Wolf Alice really lived up to the hype.
Having played Rescue Rooms in 2014 and Rock City, previously, in 2015, Wolf Alice are no strangers to the Nottingham music scene. Not only this, but last year the band were nominated for a Brit award and a Grammy, so it was fair to have relatively high expectations.
“The gig was in full swing and I was loving it”
Having arrived a little late and a few songs into the set list, I eventually found a decent spot crammed in the balcony section with fans of all ages. It seemed my timing was perfect with the sold-out venue being in high spirits. Lead singer Ellie Roswell owning the stage and fellow band members keeping up the pace, the gig was in full swing and I was loving it. The band easily made their way through songs off both records The Visions of a Life and My Love Is Cool and nothing says a gig is successful like a crowd singing lyrics back at you. One of my favorite moments was as everyone, crowd and balcony alike, sang the lyrics to “Your Loves Whore” back to the band – it couldn’t have been better.
With a strong stage presence and an energetic crowd, it was easy to see why Wolf Alice had built up quite the following. Wolf Alice’s set list was filled with crowd pleasers from “Bros”, “Moaning Lisa Smile”, to “Yuk Foo” the band clearly knew how to get a crowd going. Yet with all the dancing and mosh pits forming throughout various songs, and Ellie’s occasional rush to the barrier to emotively borderline yell lyrics, my favourite part of the show had to be the two-track encore.
“The fast-fueled indie-rock song was enough the offer closure for the crowd”
The hyped-up crowd reacted seamlessly to the somber sound of “Blush”. The crowd’s energy didn’t dissipate but efforts pushed into people climbing onto friends’ shoulders and swaying along to the music. Once Blush faded away into the now quitter venue, the band dropped their instruments and promptly walked off stage. You either have patience for an encore or you don’t, the Nottingham crowd had one more song left in them. After a minute of cheering/screaming later, Wolf Alice took back to the stage to end the show with a fan favourite; “Giant Peach”. The fast-fueled indie-rock song was enough the offer closure for the crowd and the band bringing a tidy end to a great gig.
I’ll be honest, before interviewing the band and experiencing Wolf Alice’s music first hand, I wasn’t too sold on them, but I’m glad I was wrong. Wolf Alice are a band to watch, with witty lyrics, a confident, yet careful, carefree indie-rock style it’s a nice fit for such a unique band. All in all, I’d definitely see them again.
8/10
Zoya Raza-Sheikh
Image courtesy of BBC Music
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