REVIEW: Wolf Alice, Pie & Vinyl, Southsea
![Wolf Alice Picture: Paul Windsor](https://www.portsmouth.co.uk/webimg/legacy_oak_98498378.jpg?crop=3:2,smart&width=640&quality=65&enable=upscale)
![Wolf Alice Picture: Paul Windsor](/img/placeholder.png)
Sixty lucky fans clutching their pre-ordered vinyl are shoehorned into the store, with almost as many outside peering through the window.
The band has not long finished a two-year world tour, stopping only to record new album Visions Of A Life. It’s a sign of the band’s confidence that the normally full-blown rock sound can be stripped down to an acoustic performance. Seated lead singer Ellie Rowsell nervously looks up at the crowd standing literally a foot away, a mobile phone goes off, bass player Theo Ellis grabs it off the embarrassed fan and tells the caller: ‘Sorry, we are about to start a show’. It certainly breaks the ice.
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Hide AdThe band soon hit their stride – Ellie’s vocals taking on a PJ Harvey-like authority. It’s difficult to tell how the new songs will translate to the bigger stage. Rather well, one would suspect.
It’s a short set, 30 minutes or so, before the band heads outside to do autographs and selfies before whizzing off to Brighton for another in-store gig. Needless to say they’re back on tour soon, including a show at the O2 Guildhall in Southampton, before headlining Alexandra Palace in the capital.
‘See you next year,’ say the band. I suspect the queues may be a lot longer.
PAUL WINDSOR