WOLF ALICE dazzled Tavistock with an intimate show recently, read our live review....
Wolf Alice....appearing in Devon? I could just about comprehend this news if they were playing at Plymouth Pavilions or the University in Exeter so when I heard the gig was to take place at The Wharf in Tavistock, I honestly thought I'd been pranked! Imagine my surprise when I checked on their Facebook page and there it was, spelt out for me to see. Tickets went on sale at 10am the next day, I was in work so asked my lovely wife to sit by the computer at 9:55am and hit the refresh button every few seconds. She called me at 10:03am, to tell me that ALL of the tickets had sold out....in under 3 minutes....insane! I was gutted, I just had to be there, I have two kidneys so considered putting one up for auction, maybe my children's kidneys might be in better shape than mine....
Fortunately, there were no operations required, a good friend of mine who I told about the show when I got wind of it had managed to get hold of 4 tickets and he assured me one of them had my name on it!
I wondered if this show was a showcase to test out their new album material live? Comedians often do that, book a bunch of small dates and see how the material goes down live and use the experience to shape the setlist going forwards. I guess the same applies for bands.
The first act was an rock trio from Plymouth called School Disco who steamed through their set of quality self-penned tracks, some heart wrenching screams and violent guitar outbursts put the singer/guitarist in the same camp as Kurt Cobain but with more of a melody and less of a downer going on, I was also seeing nods towards other noise bands out there, certainly a genre that has not been represented as well as it could have been in the past so a welcome sight for ears in my opinion. There some great solo work going on with some interesting flourishes thrown in for good measure, even saw some Hendrix style teeth playing during the final track!
After a short break, Wolf Alice took to the stage and burst straight into their set with the big guns, "BROS", "You're a Germ" and "Your Love's Whore" all showing up in the first half of the set. They took the opportunity to showcase 4 new tracks ("Don't Delete the Kisses", "Yuk Foo", "Beautifully Unconventional" & "Formidable Cool") which appear on the new album Visions of a Life which is due to land on September 29th (available for preorder now HERE) The new tracks were really well received, so much so, I'm looking forward to the new album even more now!
The Wharf was packed to the rafters and the temperature for me was way too high on the floor so I sought solace on the raised seating area after the first three songs, even stood up high, it was really hot and I was glad that I had easy access to the bar for refreshments!
Gigs like these don't come along very often, but when they do, they are like a dream come true, I am sure that everyone at the show had a great time and wishes the band every success with their October Japanese, American and European dates before heading back to UK shores for their November tour.