Wolf Alice: Britain's Best Band Bloom

A fifth time on the farm for Ellie, Joff, Joel and Theo. Three years have passed since their Pyramid stage show, which saw the band make the festival by the skin of their teeth, and ten years have passed since their debut album. This time, the band plays as the penultimate act on the other stage, a Sunday evening slot just before The Prodigy, to a vast crowd.

Each album has pushed the band further up festival bills, allowed them to embrace new sounds and ideas and become a force to be reckoned with. Forthcoming fourth album 'The Clearing' sees the band entering their best era yet.

Opening the show with 'Formidable Cool', the grungy effort from their second album 'Visions of a Life' allows Ellie to show her vocal range and the band to blow the crowd away. 'Delicious Things' follows a more hazy, shoegaze feel, perfect for festival evenings. The song is one of the band's best from 'Blue Weekend' and showcases their range of styles and sounds perfectly. 

Another 'Blue Weekend' classic, 'How Can I Make it Ok', follows, and despite a few nervous moments from Ellie, the band put in a stellar performance. With her voice full of emotion, she's grown into her role as front woman, in recent shows she has been more electrifying than ever before. 

What follows is a cover of Fleetwood Mac's 'Dreams', which seems to go down an absolute treat with the Other Stage crowd.

The newest single 'Bloom Baby Bloom' lights the blue touch paper, though. The crowd love it, it's one of the band's most bombastic songs to date. It causes massive sing-alongs and numerous people on their friends' shoulders, that mood is continued into 'Bros', the indie friendship anthem. A song that recently turned 10 years old, a song that has soundtracked thousands of moments for best friends, and at Glastonbury, soundtracked a whole lot more. 

Following a comment on Instagram from Theo in the days before about flares. He had been impressed by other bands and artists' fans lighting flares in the crowd, and he wanted the same to happen with Wolf Alice. In 'Bros', the Glastonbury crowd obliged. As plumes of multi-coloured smoke rise into the air, bassist Theo Ellis declares, “Whoever got the memo about the flares, I love you.”

It's not all indie bombast, though. The band can do slow and intimate and with a beautiful rendition of 'Safe from Heartbreak', they turn the other stage into a mini campfire sing-along, with all members crowded around a microphone and acoustic guitar. 

Forthcoming single 'The Sofa' already sounds like it could be a future classic, with some beautiful vocals, and a classic Wolf Alice melancholy, think 'Silk', 'Planet Hunter', 'The Last Man on the Earth'. A punk section of 'Yuk Foo' and 'Play the Greatest Hits' hits at breakneck speed, the range of Wolf Alice is nothing short of exceptional. From folk, shoegaze, and glam to punk. No other band is doing this at the world's biggest festival.

'Silk' slows things back down, a cinematic, hazy song and still one of the band's best. The band then perfectly segue into arguably their most important song, 'The Last Man on the Earth', the song that began the 'Blue Weekend' era, and showed that Ellie, Joff, Joel and Theo were one of the very best bands in the country. What starts off as almost an Ellie Rowsell a cappella quickly grows into a fully fledged psychedelic glam masterpiece. 

'Giant Peach' proves that not only is Ellie an exceptional front woman, singer, and songwriter, but she can play the guitar. 10 years on, it's easy to see why it's still a fan fave. A distilled version of the band, into a grungy indie banger. With the band interluding into a quick riff of 'Seven Nation Army' and 'Iron Man' to end the song, this is Wolf Alice exuding a whole lot of confidence. 

Before launching into 'Giant Peach' bass player Theo Ellis addressed the crowd “, I say it every time, but this festival really is the best place on earth, so thank you for coming to watch us again.”

'Don't Delete the Kisses' brings the show to its end, another song that puts Ellie's voice and lyrics right at the heart of the moment. This time, it's made even more magical as a field of 40,000+ festival-goers throw their arms around friends and partners, some on shoulders, flares lighting up the night sky, the crowd singing every word in unison. It’s less about desperation and more about celebration. A pure Glastonbury moment where everyone feels part of something bigger than themselves. Including the band, this is their Glastonbury moment.

With a new album in the works and an arena tour on the horizon, the band's future is looking bright. The next time we see them at Glastonbury, they'll be headlining. It's a moment we've all been waiting for, and it's finally here.

It's written in the stars-the band is destined to play the Pyramid. Their musical journey has led them to this point, and it's a moment we're all eagerly anticipating.

Thank you for reading 

Jack