Wolf Alice Performs At Teragram Ballroom
Transfixing the audience with a blend of ethereal vocals and punk rock, the British band Wolf Alice wowed fans at their sold-out Teragram Ballroom concert in downtown Los Angeles on Oct. 28, 2021.
Wolf Alice and The Blossom played at the Teragram Ballroom in Los Angeles on Thursday October 28,2021. (Maxim Elramsisy | The Corsair)
For British rock band Wolf Alice’s large stage presence, a small mosh pit at their Teragram ballroom concert in downtown Los Angeles on Thursday, Oct. 28, felt unusually intimate. During the show, Ellie Roswell, the band’s vocalist, even interacted with the audience. She lightheartedly responded to a fan at the concert who commented on the Manchester-born singer’s accent. “Do I actually sound like that?” she said.
Roswell stood onstage front and center in a black suit jacket and occasionally played an electric guitar. The band’s guitarist Joff Oddie, who originally started Wolf Alice with Roswell as a duo in 2010, played on Roswell’s left. The band’s other two members, who joined the group later, also stood onstage. Bassist Theo Ellis was on Roswell’s right and drummer Joel Amey behind her.
Wolf Alice’s appeal, according to musician Christian Gisborne who attended the concert, comes from the band’s ability to craft high-quality rock music. “This new album is their best one yet," he said.
The show’s opener, musician Lily Lizotte who uses they or she pronouns and creates music as “The Blossom," performed their childlike punk-pop singles. She strutted the stage clad in a white dress covered with colorful scribbles. Their stage presence, despite the artist’s relatively new debut with their first EP 97 BLOSSOM released on April 6, was mesmerizing and packed with the stardom of a seasoned musician.
Wolf Alice’s stage presence, for their live act, further captivated audience members. The band performed past hits from their 2015 debut album My Love Is Cool, 2017 album Visions of a Life, and singles from new studio album Blue Weekend which they released on June 4 this year. The first song that night, “Delicious Things,” was a perfect concoction of classic rock and melodramatic indie with quiet verses and bridges that crescendo into a dreamy chorus.
Lyrically, singles like “Delicious Things” fill Blue Weekend with simple, yet poignant, confessions from the songwriting band. That song, in particular, reflects on Roswell’s ascension to fame in Los Angeles from humble beginnings. “A girl like me,” she sang. “Would you believe I’m in Los Angeles?”
Throughout the performance, the band’s soft punk discography created an exceptional experience. When they changed from blaring guitar solos to mellow ballads, Wolf Alice made those tonal transitions feel natural. The entire room clapped to the exhilarating beat of “Giant Peach” and shouted their hearts out to the bittersweet chorus of “No Hard Feelings.” Roswell spoke before the latter track to usher that shift into a more somber melody. “Next, I’m going to sing a wee sad song,” she said. “Sad, but hopeful.”
For the concert’s finale, Wolf Alice once again interacted with the audience. The band gave one last encore, which the crowd applauded for, of their hit single “Moaning Lisa Smile.” The song received a 2015 Grammy nomination for best rock solo performance. As Roswell stared into the audience, Oddie and Ellis played guitar and bass riffs, and Amey guided the rhythm on drums, the last moments of music were a fiery end to the night.
Correction: An earlier edition of this article misspelled the surname of the artist who performs as The Blossom. They are LIly Lizotte, not Lizorre.”
