[ originally published 09/05/2015 ]
WOLF ALICE
The Gloe, Cardiff - 1st April 2015
Support: The Magic Gang, Crows
I'd been looking forward to seeing Wolf Alice for some time. I was excited that I was going to get to see a new band on the very tip of stardom play what could be their last small venue tour before rocketing to fame. Then, two days before the show, I caught the plague. OK, so it was just a cold, but as any self-respecting man will tell you, we get colds that feel like the black death, and this felt like one of them. Fortunately, I dosed myself up enough to drag myself along to the gig, with an ailing MrsRobster in tow. She'd been suffering with some pain over the previous week and was feeling a cold coming on herself. But she'd been to work, so she couldn't have been as bad as me. Either way, neither of us was in optimum gig-going form.
For that reason, we didn't rush to get there early. As a result we missed the opening band Crows. Many didn't though, as for a change, the Globe was pretty rammed from the off. We did see the Magic Gang (from Brighton) though. "What did you make of them?" MrsRobster asked me after their set. "Like a lightweight Weezer," came my reply. She laughed. "That's pretty much exactly what I was going to say."
The main attraction was greeted by huge cheers from the unsurprisingly young crowd. Wolf Alice haven't even released an album yet, but their set provoked one of the most enthusiastic responses of any audience I've seen for some time. And why not - they are good. Like, really bloody good. Good songs, good sound, good singer. If I had to compare them to another band around at the moment, it would probably be the Joy Formidable (though MrsRobster heard a touch of the Sundays in there too). The only somewhat minor gripe I had is, as good a singer as Ellie Rowsell is, her stage presence needs a bit of work. I didn't quite get the energy I had hoped from her, not the energy or personality Ritzy of the Joy Formidable exudes, anyway. But as I said, that's just a mnor gripe. Wolf Alice are bound for great things.
A few months after I wrote this review, Wolf Alice played to a packed house at the Reading Festival...
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