Live Review: Wolf Alice - The Venue, Derby 16/08/2017

With The Venue in Derby being only a 500-person capacity, tickets were like gold dust upon Wolf Alice’s intimate gig. 

The whole venue was buzzing with anticipation and excitement. All the members from Wolf Alice had to walk down the side of the crowd in order to get passed the barrier and onto the stage. Not many people noticed to begin with but when they saw the four members at the side of the stage, and the lights and music went off, there was a massive scream of excitement. One by one, each member entered the stage, Ellie Rowsell being the last member to appear. The lights lit up and the smoke filled the stage. Ellie took to her microphone and started this special set with “Don’t Delete the Kisses” which was absolutely beautiful.

After Ellie had finished there was a massive scream. Ellie smiled then picked up her guitar and began to sing “Bros” which got a massive reaction. The room was unbelievably hot and sweaty (I was really not a pretty sight…) but that didn’t affect their performance in the slightest. The crowd didn’t seem to be fazed by the heat or sweat as a mosh pit opened up. Half way through the song Ellie’s mic slipped however her roadie was on hand to save the day, he was a human mic stand for the rest of the song to ensure the song went uninterrupted. Once the song had finished, Ellie greeted everybody while she was getting her mic fixed.

With her microphone as good as new “You’re a Germ” was next up. It was a huge success with the crowd, causing the temperature of the room to rise even higher… if that was even possible. The set list also included their new song “Yuk Foo” and it went down an absolute treat with the audience, clearly delighted to be one of the few audience members to hear the song live, in such an intimate venue as well. The energy from the entire band and the audience seemed to bounce off of each other as The Venue was buzzing with excitement throughout the whole set. To finish off the set Wolf Alice closed with three of their massive tunes; “Fluffy”, “Moaning Lisa Smile” and “Giant Peach”. During “Giant Peach” Ellie braved the sweaty crowd and jumped onto the barrier, microphone in hand, sweaty hands and heads assisting her.

It really was a special night. Intimate gigs really are the best, especially ones like this very exceptional night.



Review and Photography by Hollie Wright