Wolf Alice At The Old Fire Station, 9/4/15:
Support from: Bloody Knees & The Magic Gang
There is something magical about a gig night in the south coast seaside town of Bournemouth. The sun was out, the beers were flowing and a wave of people poured into the Old Fire Station to catch a set from the ever-rising Wolf Alice, who stopped off there as part of an extensive North America/UK tour that started back in February. We arrived knowing that this quartet are one of the most promising bands to come from the UK in recent years and the opportunity to see them live was not to be missed.
First up to kick off the night were Bloody Knees, who proceeded to dish out a deluge of sludgy, hard hitting tracks reminiscent of the grunge sound pioneered in the early 1990′s. The crowd immediately connected with the band as mosh pits were formed one after another right from the off. They were eager to make a good impression on this Bournemouth crowd and certainly set a very high bar for anything that was to follow. Raw, powerful vocals and razor sharp guitar tones filled their 25 minute set as they left to cheers from the raucous audience.
Next up were The Magic Gang, a band originally formed in the Bournemouth area, and they clearly already had a few fans of their own as there were many members of the audience singing along to each track. The Magic Gang are another band who are rapidly progressing after their song “No Fun” was recently crowned Single Of The Week by none other than Radio 1 DJ Annie Mac. Catchy choruses, shimmering guitars and vocal harmonies made this a memorable homecoming set for the four-piece, with their track entitled “Shallow” being one of the highlights. Whilst incorporating a slightly opposite sound to the raw energy of Bloody Knees, their enjoyable blend of indie rock and pop coupled with vocal harmonies satisfied a Bournemouth crowd who were in the mood to dance, and a Bloody Knees vocalist who was in the mood to crowd surf!
After a 20 minute interval, the lights dimmed once more as headline act Wolf Alice took to the stage. With no need for an introduction, they ripped through their opening track “Fluffy”, sending an already-eager crowd into disarray as their raw power coupled with singer Ellie Rowsell’s pristine vocals left everyone in awe. From that point onwards, everybody in the packed-out venue realised that they were in for a very special evening.
Upon looking around the venue it was surprising to see the diversity of the crowd for an up and coming band, as many of the older generation were there to check them out, clearly highlighting the fact that the words “Wolf Alice” have been talked about a lot recently.
The track “Blush” soon followed in their set and it created a spine-tingling moment for us in the crowd. Tranquil melodies and the angelic voice of Rowsell left me and no doubt many more people with goosebumps. Shortly after this, chaos was resumed as “Storms”, from last years Creature Sounds EP, followed it, displaying the bands amazing array of sounds.
What was interesting was the introduction of two brand-new tracks to the setlist. Whilst not letting the crowd know the names of the two songs, we were well aware of the bands comments on the up coming album My Love Is Cool, stating that one or two tracks would take the band in a slightly more pop-sounding direction. These tracks were certainly what they were talking about. Whilst losing the raw energy and relentless speed of tracks such as Fluffy, Wolf Alice showed Bournemouth what they are capable by creating a huge wall of sound that surrounded Rowsell’s incredible vocal range. It made those members of the crowd who were jumping around stop still, and simply admire what was happening in front of them.
Of course, “Giant Peach” changed all of that. The four and-a-half minute long juggernaut of a song was unleashed and the Old Fire Station became unglued. It was a performance that commanded attention; whenever the crowd stopped jumping, the song got louder and louder, and finishing with breakthrough hit “Moaning Lisa Smile” capped off what was an incredible evening.
We have reviewed a lot of Wolf Alice material in the past, and even included them in a list of artists to look out for this year, so we thought we knew exactly what we were going to get from this gig but it turns out they were even better than we had predicted. The sound was pristine and everything about the performance was on point. We feel very fortunate to have been able to watch them play in such a small venue, because they won’t be playing in them for much longer.
PRE ORDER “MY LOVE IS COOL”, THE DEBUT ALBUM FROM WOLF ALICE RELEASED 22/6/15:
http://po.st/MyLoveIsCool
