Wolf Alice…just wow…what a gig! Wolf Alice have gone from strength to strength these last few years, culminating in the recent Brit Award win for Best British Group to add to their first number one album for ‘Blue Weekend’ last year, which was also in the running for the 2021 Mercury Music Prize (an award that they have previously won for their second album ‘Visions of Life’).  I was privileged enough to be able to see Wolf Alice play in September 2021 at The Joiners for Independent Venue Week, which was an incredible gig in such a small venue and tonight I was looking forward to hearing the new album in full force in a bigger venue at the O2 Guildhall!

Lucia & The Boys were supporting tonight, I had heard of them as a band but wasn’t too familiar with all their work so was looking forward to seeing them play live. Front-woman Lucia was mesmerising, a real presence on stage with a beautiful vulnerability too. The band are considered a current figure head of the Glasgow music scene, having sold out venues across the city and you could see why. Be sure to check out their EP ‘The State of Things’ as a starting point.

Wolf Alice treated us to a set that encompassed songs from their three albums so far, with the vast majority from ‘Blue Weekend’ – ‘Smile’ opened proceedings, and this flowed into ‘You’re a Germ’ from their debut album ‘My Love Is Cool’. It was great to hear one of my personal favourites, ‘Lipstick on the Glass’ (rooted in heartbreak) from the new album played again. Ellie’s voice is majestic throughout the whole gig, none more so than on ‘Safe From Heartbreak (If You Ever Fall in Love)’, where she is silhouetted by a spotlight at the back of the stage.

Tonight was also a strange one for the photographers as we were informed we would be photographing the 11^th, 12^th and 13^th songs of the set as opposed to the usual first three. Our queue would be a siren during ‘Play the Greatest Hits’ – most of us were already primed at the front to move into the pit. It was nice to be able to soak up the first half of the gig before photographing for a change.

You could really feel the mutual love from band to crowd during the end of the set moving through to the encore. ‘Giant Peach’, with its driving intro, initially closed before the band returned to the stage to play ‘The Last Man on Earth’ and ‘Don’t Delete the Kisses’, much to the crowds delight!

Website – wolfalice.co.uk
Instagram – @wolfaliceband
Twitter – @wolfalicemusic
Facebook – @wolfalicemusic

Words and pics by Russ Leggatt