Wolf Alice At The Vic In Chicago

Photo of Ellie Rowsell from Wolf Alice Facebook page.

It was a bit of a trek (train, bus, el), but I was able to catch a portion of Wolf Alice at The Vic this past Monday night. The U.K. band is touring the States in support of its latest album Blue Weekend, and it would great to see them establish the same massive following here that they’ve achieved at home. Judging from the sold-out show at The Vic, that just might be happening.

Back when I reviewed Wolf Alice’s full-length debut My Love Is Cool in 2016, I noted, “A major benefit of seeing Wolf Alice perform live would be watching vocalist-guitarist Ellie Rowsell navigate the various genres and personas scattered throughout these 13 songs.” Five years later, that proved to be the case. Rowsell and her mates are fascinating to watch in person, switching effortlessly from rampaging alt rock to heavenly synth ballads. “Smile,” “Formidable Cool,” and “Bros” sounded great, and I’m sure several highlights followed throughout the evening. Here’s hoping Wolf Alice returns to Chicago soon, and I’m able to catch their entire show.

Opening act Bria performed songs from its very recently released Cuntry Covers, a six-song collection of slow, atmospheric renditions of material originally done by Waylon Jennings, John Cale, The Walker Brothers, Lucinda Wiliams, Karen Dalton, and Mary Afton. Lead vocalist-guitarist Bria Salmena provided emotive vocals, and together with co-founding member Duncan Hay Jennings and vocalist-keyboards player Ali Jennings, crafted a haunting aura for each song.