Wolf Alice roll straight off the hype conveyor belt and into Liverpool, Getintothis’ Laurie Cheeseman on a night of mixed results.
You would think that on one of the three days of summer Liverpool is treated to, the last place you would want to be is in a warm dank basement.
But come people did, so clearly Wolf Alice, the latest band to roll off of UK music’s hype machine, are clearly doing something right.
Opening band Mohebbi‘s bluesy psych comes across initially as something of a misstep, given that they do not really fit in with the evening’s more straight-forward pop rock aesthetics.
The band span things around entirely on songs like Jack And John, even descending into some Can style freak-outs… Well, perhaps if Definitely Maybe-era Oasis decided to cover Can. Imagine that, I dare you.
Mohebbi deliver offbeat freakouts at the Shipping Forecast
Carrying on the noughties revival coursing through several Liverpool acts (see the Soho Riots), The Shadow Theatre‘s scratchy, snotty indie tossed you back to a time of feeling 14 again.
You know, when that guy in the trilby and winkle-pickers at the front of a Babyshambles gig was the coolest guy you’d ever seen? Gritty rhythms and jangly leads abounded throughout their over-short set, especially on Interpol aping tracks like Follow The Lights or Concepts.
Shadow Theatre serve up ragged rhythms supporting Wolf Alice
Finally entering the dungeon after a slight delay, Wolf Alice bring their blissed out twee grunge with the likes of Nobody Loves You Anymore perfect for a hazy June evening.
Imagine Dinosaur Jr. rawness married to The Maccabees melodies. Pretty sweet stuff, non?
The slow-burner moments are a bit of a drag sadly, slowing the night down and reducing the band’s momentum exacerbated by the fact few people seemed arsed during the more upbeat numbers.
However, recent single Bros rescues matters with it’s epic feel – if this was 2004 it’d be a shoe-in for every nascent indie kid’s disco anthem – before, refreshingly dispensing with the pre-requisite encore and vanishing into the night.
Wolf Alice – they don’t stick around the encores
Pictures by Getintothis’ Gaz Jones.
