Wolf Alice provided Liverpool’s Central Library with its first ever live performance, Getintothis’ Laurie Cheeseman took his nose out of the books and let his eyes and ears take over.
For most people, the last place you would want to be on a Saturday night is the library; especially those of you who have spent the best part of a week living in one.
However, this is not a normal night. It is in fact a historical occasion. Things are happening here, and the genteel climes of Liverpool’s Central Library are opening their doors to a small group of revellers for the recently re-opened venue’s first ever gig.
These unusual settings mean no one quite knows how to act, and for the first good while, people are sitting down. Sitting, in fact, like it’s some hippy love in.
But when Wolf Alice take to the stage, the surge forwards and the bands noisy, Pixies-gone-Sarah Records sits in a beautiful awkward balance with the setting.
While creating an aura of the forgotten church hall benefit gigs of the 80s, their scruffy, scuzzy sound creates a certain (quite attractive) tension with the less than scruffy environs.
Wolf Alice at Central Library, Liverpool
Wolf Alice prove yet again to be one of those rare bands who know when to hold back and when to let rip. Their perfectly timed lows such as Blush and She allow everyone to catch their breath and Ellie’s introverted swagger to take centre stage, captivating the audience.
However, it’s never long before they are machine-gunning straight into blistering, dirgey cuts like the evergreen Bros and the night’s highlight Nose Dive.
Or jumping straight into the audience in an attempt to teach us how to dance instead of filming the whole thing on their iPhones. Yeah Yeah Yeahs definitely have a valid point about that.
People really need to, y’know, live in the real world and experience this. Why waste a rare opportunity like this and watch it all through a screen?
Pictures by Getintothis’ Gaz Jones.
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