A grimey London foursome have taken the past year by storm. Not only did Wolf Alice take my live experience to a whole new level, they prove that the UK rock resurgence is in an unstoppable full swing force tonight in Bristol.
It's another grey and musty evening that descends on the Trinity church, possibly in one of Bristols' more grittier areas; there are two worlds torn between thumping cars and those of us (for the most part) teenagers that are shaking their limbs in the wind. Almost like a pre-gig ritual. For everyone here is drooled with enough passion to realise how tonight's show will turn into the mayhem we all came for.
Upon entrance,I was delighted to hear that the Cambridge grunge ( the only time I will use that word in the right context today) band Bloody Knees were first up. More and
more hormonally adrenaline pumped kids entered and for me it was very interesting picking the difference between the aspiring hipsters and the true 'I know what I'm talking about' individuals. Anyway, straight onto 8pm Bradley Griffiths staggers in each nook and cranny of the stage, his body pummelling into 'Ears ,Eyes,Oh's and Yous' after having to thrust his entirety out to awake the Bristol crowd. The bitter sweet riff that rampages through each verse was truly what brought everyone out of their comfort zone. The whole band bounced of each others vitality with each repulsive spit and snarl, they could've gone harder if they wanted to. Their bulldozing set only continued to throw all the zero fucks in the world out to us as they, at the yells of the
crowd, blistered into 'Daydream'. With the chorus belting, 'Open my mouth, there's no sound/head in the clouds' at a throat tearing ferocity, it felt really good to be shouting these words back in their face as the mosh compressed me into the docile front rows. Yet the favourite, 'Stitches' was the baggy jumper on the ripped jeans of the set. Every instrumental groans to its entirety until we're all pointing at the band, 'And I'm covered in blood/but at least I'm having fun, I'm having fun' it was definitely a mutual feeling by the time Bradley gave his last headband and Bloody Knees slurred of the stage. The crowd may have had growing pains towards them at first, but the sound was undoubtable. 8/10
The venue toilet banter (as I call it) was on the up, we all felt the heat Ellie Rowsell and her gang in the flesh was approaching. However, us sweaty lot, profoundly warmed up to say the least now had The Magic Gang to marvel over as Wolf Alice's leading support. My friend tells me that that's the lead singer on the stage and I say 'No way, he look he looks like the tech guy with those glasses'. Anyway we are ready enough until they kick start their first song. She was right. Immediately I can tell that this will be a mundane walk in the park of indie pop more than rock. Of course, they had some hard, addictive riffs in there but I couldn't help feeling that me and the centre crowd were just pushing around and falling over for the sake of it. I can partially see why they were accompanying Wolf Alice, tracks like 'No fun' have the lovable yucky storytelling lyrics and often have an effortless aroma that looks like they're not even trying. But I concluded when Bloody Knees performed you could see every vein and muscle pulverising, they looked disgusting and I liked that. The Magic Gang, as Bristols' main man Big Jeff quoted, " I didn't like The Magic Gang because they made me think of Level 42." Or from a 16 year old's point of view, a Will Mackenzie and some other dudes who can play but just aren't quite vicious enough for what's to follow.
7/10
Now, the wait was antagonising. The air sort of lumped into one sweaty narcotic and pushed down the back of our spines. Everyone was severely drunk, high or seething to see the sight of these 20 something year olds who still carry the baggage of every smelly teenage armpit you could imagine. As they toddle on stage, their body language is relaxed, perhaps naturally rehearsed since Bristol is in the thick of their UK tour. It's not long before the temptation grows too much for Ellie to give a resounding glance to the crowd whilst fumbling with her guitar, very quickly launching into 'Fluffy'. Obviously this was the climatic and utterly enthusing start the place craved for, with Joff thrashing about as if his bass guitar was a hulu-hoop. Soon it's down to Ellie's floating vocals, 'So I'm searching for sweet thrills and we don't know how' which soon develop into her signature shout, 'Sixteen!/So sweet/Sixteen!/So sweet' its a near perfect description of their surroundings. Of course this is only the first, put the intense jamming outro of the song was almost beautiful to watch, despite all the sweat and grime dripping from my body parts I intensely watch whilst my legs are thrown around; it's like a domino affect of pure necessity. I watch Jeff to Joff to Theo and Ellie, they all bounce of each other like its the only thing they know how to do. IS there a sort of emotional side here too?
On a role already, Ellie sprints straight into 'She'. It was almost humorous to watch the others keeping up with her as the dirty riff we all know so well buzzes and bumbles throughout, the rest is rather a blur. It's respectable to start with the very songs that have been stitched onto them so tightly these past two years. But when they debut some new material it's just as intriguing. As the crowd repetitively chants her name Ellie announces the release date of 22nd June for their debut. 'Your Love's Whore' and '90 Mile
Beach' sees Ellie at her most focused, her stare fixes directly onto a space in the audience
uninterrupted, as contrasting moods from the more intimate to the loud and typically ballsy sound, it's mentionable that their debut album 'My Love Is Cool' will see the challenging of generalising a sound. Not grunge, not pop, at times not even rock; there is a new song feature ( possibly 'The Wonderwhy' or 'Soapy Water') which ignited a lo-fi club beat, Joel on drums being very much a centre part and when mixed with Wolf Alice's usual up-thrall it mixed deliciously, proving the many experimentalist tricks up their sleeves. Jeff barely stops for a drink before Ellie and Theo are at it again, head-banging simultaneously and slamming out the majestically anthemic hook for 'Storms' , all instruments collaborating finely to make a reassuring headbang beat. Vocals ringing, 'Who are you friends?/your friends?/your friends?/your friends? To answer we all cast our fingers at the band(cue mass crowd jump) . And as the purple spotlights swirl pre-chorus we are all and twirling in the infinite moment.
The heavy wasn't over yet, recently hinted single, 'Your'e A Germ' was played to its most defining heights. Commencing with a meaty yet shy riff, Ellie haunts and floats over the top of it, tempting the momentum that races of the chorus. You can see each member squirming to get to the son's climax, where Joff bends and sustains a bitter twang and Ellie launches into an ear tearing count to 8. Crowd surfers are attempting the first wave as she sings, 'You ain't going to heaven!' she poses calmly with guitar as her face contorts into the most shredding song on the set so far. They finish triumphantly to melt in some more
new material and then sludge out 'Bros' which is back to their rawer side of fiddly riffs, without overwhelming feedback to beef up how intricate they flow this into 'Blush'. Both the band and crowd embrace the simplicity of an elegantly sliding tune which has kept them on diverse side of the rock spectrum for some time already. Ellie gives her infinite stare into the church, flaring up a ceremonious epicentre, "Figured out I'm good/Turn me down like I knew I should/punch drunk,dumb struck pot luck happy happy!" with backing from Joff and Theo she sings undisturbed once again in the element of this particular cosy moment in the audience, the song talks about her own content and optimism . We are all lost in the surrealist journey with her that has taken the band to this exact second and split in the song tonight. We stop sweating and stare with her. The ability to wrench your watchers eyes back and admire the most gentle anatomy of the set is something that again, comes by necessity. Nothing seems out of the ordinary or too sudden, too pushing. It radiates out through them until Bristol is taken to its knees.
So they might as well finish off the job properly. Everyone who had been scouring twitter on the build up to tonight had seen the previous delighted faces of those clutching their set lists, chants of 'GIANT PEACH!!' were engulfing the room and when the jammy, layered intro melted out through the amps. Everyone prepared. The crowd now was at optimum energy release. As the moment we've all been waiting for arrives , a wall of death develops, we scream as Ellie growls," All dark and handsome down/I'm dark and pretty down/ am I dark and pretty down?!" I am gracefully on the inner ring in the Wall Of Death and as I'm thrown like the current into a sea of wet armpits and flung right to the front. It's one hell of a send off for the encore, one that Wolf Alice could only bare to stay off for 60 seconds. Ellie swirls back to the mic and says, " We're going to play an old one, it's called White Leather!" And she must of sensed the passion pit that was developing, "actually stuff that" she tosses Theo the guitar and pummels immediately into 'Moaning Lisa Smile'. We all rip our vocal chords with joy. This is the one track that truly summarises their spirit; fuck it, we're doing it
anyway. I cannot even hear myself singing "scrap the blues if the blues don't work/ brush your teeth from the inside out!" but something works in my favour. By the second chorus Ellie bends down into my side of the crowd and hands the 'ahhh ahhh' section to some girls in the front row, I am crunched up against the stage as she edges nearer and half-hands it to myself as I scream into it-nothing is heard except distortion. Ellie is now on tipping point into the crowd as I and the mosh members have managed to squeeze in and take hold of her, I was so overwhelmed with singing and having her so close to falling into me I just sort of held her face instead. Ellie manages to tumble out just as Theo slam dunks in on the other side he edges nearer to me, surfing sideways and topples into to a wall of death before being engulfed by us. For an instant he looks like a teenage boy fighting his way ( without success) in the masses. I marvel and grab onto the arm with the 'Creature Songs' artwork tattoo before he finally manages to regain strength and get back to his mates. being brought to our knees wasn't enough we were now crawling as the blurry end of 'Moaning Lisa Smile' was out of focus in our minds and they hopped down righteously from the stage. 'That's it!' people cried. We fell to the floor.
As the church lights beam down on us once more, I did my waiting to grab hold of a setlist. ( My first successful attempt) didn't catch any picks. It felt almost obligatory to be screaming over a piece of paper with song titles that don't make sense, taking something home for everyone was as such. We don't know why it felt so good, it just did out of the randomness of Wolf Alice themselves.
9/10
Everyone flooded around the venue, myself and Big Jeff remarked on the fabulous mayhem. However some acquainted fans quietly told us Ellie was outside signing. So of course, we burst out the trinity doors and there are the masses swaying drunkenly on the railings and
picking at their feet. I decide to take the route I know round to the back door of the church and some smokers are mucking around with Bloody Knees. Everyone seems to be ignoring the all in black figure that keeps her head to the ground. After my vision re-focuses I recognise it is Ellie; staring at the ground, at the sky, basically coming down in her own fashion. When I did speak to her, she had the normality and happiness of a friendly neighbour. Not like previous bands I have met where they are in a higher dimension to yourself being dependant on their signatures. We talk briefly about guitars/inspiration and have a photo. She really doesn't seem to mind I think due to the stark amount of people
who've bothered to come and find her. Watching her eyes when I asked where they were tomorrow night was enthusing; she admitted modestly but excitedly that it was pretty much a homecoming career defining show at Shepard's Bush. ( they managed a sold out show with all the gear and fans to accompany the following night) Before she floats back into the church I remember to ask her how she met Brookyln neo-psych rock band Sunflower Bean ( read about them on my blog HERE ). She avidly told me they are planning a UK tour late this summer and before playing in New York how Wolf Alice really just 'found them'. With that Ellie's calm down ritual seems to be finished and before long Theo rumbles out, a girl asks him to sign her boobs but he's just not that guy. We had a good chat with other people around him and he only hinted a slight panic when I reminded him about his struggling escape from the crowd during 'Moaning Lisa Smile'. We tried to speak to the Will Mackenzie from The Magic Gang but he looked to be locked in a very serious phone call.We giggled and had a snoop round Bloody Knees tour van after Theo signed my ticket and shared hair styles with my friend, I recommended he try dying it pink or something. Some of us wanted a lift but Bloody Knees were tumbling around and wanted a pint. We soon swayed back around the eeiry side chapel and back into my parents car.
On a role already, Ellie sprints straight into 'She'. It was almost humorous to watch the others keeping up with her as the dirty riff we all know so well buzzes and bumbles throughout, the rest is rather a blur. It's respectable to start with the very songs that have been stitched onto them so tightly these past two years. But when they debut some new material it's just as intriguing. As the crowd repetitively chants her name Ellie announces the release date of 22nd June for their debut. 'Your Love's Whore' and '90 Mile
The heavy wasn't over yet, recently hinted single, 'Your'e A Germ' was played to its most defining heights. Commencing with a meaty yet shy riff, Ellie haunts and floats over the top of it, tempting the momentum that races of the chorus. You can see each member squirming to get to the son's climax, where Joff bends and sustains a bitter twang and Ellie launches into an ear tearing count to 8. Crowd surfers are attempting the first wave as she sings, 'You ain't going to heaven!' she poses calmly with guitar as her face contorts into the most shredding song on the set so far. They finish triumphantly to melt in some more
As the church lights beam down on us once more, I did my waiting to grab hold of a setlist. ( My first successful attempt) didn't catch any picks. It felt almost obligatory to be screaming over a piece of paper with song titles that don't make sense, taking something home for everyone was as such. We don't know why it felt so good, it just did out of the randomness of Wolf Alice themselves.
9/10
Everyone flooded around the venue, myself and Big Jeff remarked on the fabulous mayhem. However some acquainted fans quietly told us Ellie was outside signing. So of course, we burst out the trinity doors and there are the masses swaying drunkenly on the railings and
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| The famous backstage door! |
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| Badass picture with Ellie. |
When one has seen a band such as Wolf Alice, the main accomplishment is this generation of teenagers and music fans witnessing their journey. From their very first release of the twangy 'Leaving You to a Radio 1 shout-out every day to various magazine spreads. In the emotional up roar and heart tear of their language it's a journey Wolf Alice generally want to share. Ultimately an unimaginable high is what they have finally hit and this is clearly the purpose of their UK tour. After two years of practically playing their guts out to nobody, the fuse is now burning fast. Who knows what we can expect of them this summer.
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