Wolf Alice3Arena, Dublin★★★★☆
Storm Bram did its best to keep Wolf Alice from the door. The chart-topping English indie band were due to round off their largest-ever tour with a 3Arena concert in Dublin, supported by kindred alternative rockers Bria and Sunflower Bean.
But this ultimately superb – if under-attended – show was nearly derailed by the elements. Cancelled ferry crossings meant the opening acts could not make it, while Wolf Alice’s tour trucks arrived late. That meant their crew “had to do 12 hours of work in about three hours,” singer Ellie Rowsell informs the audience – the big screen capturing the worry lines on her face. It genuinely seems to have gone down to the wire.
The stress and trauma of crossing the Irish Sea amid a soggy pre-Christmas typhoon was worth it, however. Taking to the stage nearly half an hour later than billed, Wolf Alice put on a dazzling performance that showcases the charismatic Rowsell’s skills as a frontwoman and the band’s talent for old-school indie pop.
Or at least it does eventually. The initial stumbling block is that the tour is in support of the group’s thoroughly average new album, The Clearing. A self-conscious attempt at appealing to a wider audience, the record has its moments – but it is ultimately undone by the annoying production of hitmaker Greg Kurstin (Adele, Kylie Minogue, Harry Styles).
Kurstin has a particular set of skills – which is to make every song he touches sound like a variation of The Girl from Ipanema. That schmaltzy signature is slathered all over new Wolf Alice tunes such as opener Thorns and Bloom Baby Bloom, which makes a decent go of sounding like an indie Kate Bush before going worryingly lounge jazz in the middle.
That Wolf Alice has an eye on the big time is evident from their staging. Having come up through the UK indie circuit, they’ve tried to adjust to the demands of arena rock performance with a production that splits the difference between an Abba tribute night and a low-budget Olivia Rodrigo show.
A huge, sparkly sheet is arranged at their backs, while Rowsell has her own revolving platform that spins … very, very slowly. There is also a wind machine near the front, allowing her to do her best impression of a big-haired 1980s pop star. These contrivances don’t quite work – an indie band is still an indie band – but there is charm in seeing the group trying to adjust to the demands of suddenly being a lot bigger and not entirely pulling it off.
Things step up a gear, as they delve back into their catalogue. Formidable Cool from their Mercury-winning second album, Visions for a Life, is a shrieking rock out, while How Can I Make It Okay from 2021’s Blue Weekend is a gorgeous onslaught of orchestral pop spotlighting guitarist Joff Oddie’s expressive backing vocals.
One distraction is that the 3Arena is not entirely full. Their UK tour was a sell-out – there wasn’t a seat to be had when they rocked the 20,000-capacity O2 in London over consecutive nights the previous week – but that is not the case here. Following on from a likewise under-attended 3Arena show by The Last Dinner Party in November, it’s the second time in as many months that a band headlined this big soulless barn when a more modest venue would have suited better. Dublin is clearly crying out for a 5,000-8,000 capacity space – why won’t anyone build one?
Rowsell’s grandparents on her father’s side are from Dublin, and she manages a decent “go raibh maith agat” towards the end. She also revives the lost art of singers yelling into a loud-hailer on the blistering Yuk Foo and straps on a theatrical Flying V guitar for Giant Peach before they close the encore with the sublime goth-pop of Don’t Delete the Kisses.
Given the weather and the turnout, this show could easily have been a write-off. But Wolf Alice turned disaster into triumph, and by the time they are played off with Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody, they have delivered a few thunderbolts of their own over the course of a scintillating gig.