Wolf Alice + Wide Eyed + Hoopla Blue, The Sunflower Lounge, Birmingham 23/02/13
Wolf Alice One of Birmingham’s most intimate venues, the Sunflower Lounge, filled to capacity with B-Town music enthusiasts eager to hear the latest in the underground indie music scene. Local band Hoopla Blue were far from similar to the stereotype of small unheard of support bands; the experimental pubescent teens. Instead, their sound was precise, well refined and moreover interesting and exciting.
Hoopla Blue Their 80s-esque debut track ‘Holy Ghost’ manages to sound soft and dreamy at the same time as dark and heavy; how masterful! They set the bar high for the other acts that night. There really does seem to be no end to the talents that keep being produced from Birmingham. The venue soon became crammed with people, including other local bands, ready to show their support for Brummie band Wide Eyed; the next big name to emerge from the vastly growing B-Town music scene.
Wide Eyed Lead singer Jake Bellwood dressed to impress with his suitably fitting accessory; a sunflower guitar strap. Wide Eyed truly have the whole package; they look and sound like readymade rock stars. Whether it’s the big hair or the psychedelic sounds, a complementary comparison with The Horrors has to be made; A harmonious take on The Horrors though, with a more rock n roll edge.
Wide Eyed They finished their breathtaking set with their superb debut track, ‘Bleak.’ If Wide Eyed are already capable of stunning an audience with their headline-worthy set at such an early stage in their career, who knows what they’ll achieve in months to come. Hot new band Wolf Alice, although from London, have been making a name for themselves within the Birmingham music scene and we seem to have adopted them as our own. During their set, front woman Ellie Rowsell joked, “Apparently we’re from here, so it’s good to be home.”
Wolf Alice Ellie has the ‘rock chick’ persona down to an absolute T. Her soft vocals against the heavy guitars works so perfectly and is almost reminiscent of 90s punk band Elastica. Their jaw dropping set finished with a bang as they played their debut single ‘Fluffy’ – one to really rock out to. Wolf Alice are the band that you’ll be able to brag about seeing and knowing before they made it big, and judging by their performance at the Sunflower Lounge, that won’t take long. Photographs by Jonathan Morgan
