‘It’s how we survive’: Wolf Alice on playing live and their hopes for getting back on stage
Virtual Glastonbury, a new album, and a slot at England’s first full festival in nearly two years – it’s been a busy few weeks for Wolf Alice.
Before heading to Suffolk to play Latitude Festival in front of 40,000 fans, the band of the moment spoke to Sky News and reflected on the recent months and the impact of the pandemic on their lives.
“It’s been very difficult not playing for the last 18 months – it’s such a huge part of our job and a huge part of our income stream and business. It’s how we survive,” guitarist Joff Oddie said.
Wolf Alice won the Mercury Prize in 2018. Pic: Reuters
“And it’s what we’ve done for the last eight years of our adult life, so it’s a huge, huge deficit of all kinds of things.”
Bassist Theo Ellis said that despite playing Glastonbury’s virtual Live At Worthy Farm, it was gigs that the group missed.
“We grew up playing gigs, we love playing gigs, it’s what we are 75% in this for, because we do so much of it, or we used to. So, yeah, it’s been weird and we’re looking forward to doing a proper one. And I’m also very scared.”
Talking about hitting the stage at Latitude this weekend, Ellis added: “We’re looking forward to going to a festival first and foremost, and being with people, because it’s going to be momentous, just because it’s happening.
“And I think we’ve got bits and moments in the set that we’ve kind of had a lot of time to spend playing, that we really hope will kind of connect with people the way that we’ve crafted it a little bit to – and then backstage bars, or the one backstage bar there is.”
Their latest release, Blue Weekend, hit streaming services and record shops last month, and reached number one in the album charts.
Drummer Joel Amey says the response to the album has blown them away, adding: “I feel very, very grateful to have that kind of reaction to something that you put so much of yourself into.”
On the timing of the album and being able to perform it live, singer Ellie Rowsell said it was “taking… quite a long time” for them to record.
“I think I felt really grateful for all the bands and other artists that put out music, regardless of not being able to do any shows just because it was something to look forward to and it was really important and I felt grateful for them.
“So I didn’t want to delay things, but we were kind of lucky because it was taking us quite long anyway. Our timeline kind of worked out.”
Although the band did not know when they spoke to Sky News, earlier in the week, the album was nominated for the highly-coveted Mercury Prize – their third nomination in as many albums.
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Ellis says their win in 2018 seems to bypass them, adding that they were “surprised” it happened.
“I think fame would really overwhelm the four of us. We’re not ready for that.”
But it cannot be denied that they have star quality, spending the summer of that year touring with the likes of Foo Fighters, Queens Of The Stone Age and even supporting Liam Gallagher at his massive Finsbury Park gig.
However, touring the world now has become increasingly difficult – with Brexit adding red-tape and financial hurdles to artists’ headaches.
The new rules are largely untested, with no artists touring since the signing of a Brexit deal late last year, but Rowsell says it will be “devastating” for smaller acts.
“We’ve been lucky, we’ve toured Europe a little bit, in the times when it was a little bit more straightforward, still hard, but now it seems like almost unattainable in some ways,” she said.
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Festivals are back: ‘It’s a bit surreal’
Ellis added: “It’s the experience that goes with it, the festivals, those kind of things are a massive kind of financial injection for a lot of bands to help them survive the rest of the year.
“It’s been a system where people have been getting paid for festivals and then using that money to fund what they do for six months, seven months, eight months after that. I think if we hadn’t had the freedom to do that the way we did do, it would have affected us.
“It’s never beneficial to not get to go somewhere and play a gig in my opinion, if you’re a band or an artist or whatever.”
Going forward, the band want to “go and play one hundred million gigs”, because it’s what they love doing.
Ellis concluded: “If it happens without things going back and getting worse, it would be amazing to go out and do what we used to do, because it feels like it’s been a long time now.”
Wolf Alice’s third album Blue Weekend is available to buy or stream now.
Russell Brand has been charged with rape and two counts of sexual assault between 1999 and 2005.
The Metropolitan Police say the 50-year-old comedian, actor and author has also been charged with one count of oral rape and one count of indecent assault.
The charges relate to four women.
He is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Friday 2 May.
Police have said Brand is accused of raping a woman in the Bournemouth area in 1999 and indecently assaulting a woman in the Westminster area of London in 2001.
He is also accused of orally raping and sexually assaulting a woman in Westminster in 2004.
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Ashna Hurynag discusses Russell Brand’s charges
The fourth charge alleges that a woman was sexually assaulted in Westminster between 2004 and 2005.
Police began investigating Brand, from Oxfordshire, in September 2023 after receiving a number of allegations.
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The comedian has denied the accusations and said he has “never engaged in non-consensual activity”.
He added in a video on X: “Of course, I am now going to have the opportunity to defend these charges in court, and I’m incredibly grateful for that.”
Metropolitan Police Detective Superintendent Andy Furphy, who is leading the investigation, said: “The women who have made reports continue to receive support from specially trained officers.
“The Met’s investigation remains open and detectives ask anyone who has been affected by this case, or anyone who has any information, to come forward and speak with police.”
Tom Cruise has paid tribute to Val Kilmer, wishing his Top Gun co-star “well on the next journey”.
Cruise, speaking at the CinemaCon film event in Las Vegas on Thursday, asked for a moment’s silence to reflect on the “wonderful” times shared with the star, whom he called a “dear friend”.
Kilmer, who died of pneumonia on Tuesday aged 65, rocketed to fame starring alongside Cruise in the 1986 blockbuster Top Gun, playing Tom ‘Iceman’ Kazansky, a rival fighter pilot to Cruise’s character Maverick.
Tom Cruise said ‘I wish you well on the next journey’. Pic: AP
Val Kilmer in 2017. Pic: AP
His last part was a cameo role in the 2022 blockbuster sequel Top Gun: Maverick.
Cruise, on stage at Caesars Palace on Thursday, said: “I’d like to honour a dear friend of mine, Val Kilmer. I can’t tell you how much I admire his work, how grateful and honoured I was when he joined Top Gun and came back later for Top Gun: Maverick.
“I think it would be really nice if we could have a moment together because he loved movies and he gave a lot to all of us. Just kind of think about all the wonderful times that we had with him.
“I wish you well on the next journey.”
The moment of silence followed a string of tributes from Hollywood figures including Cher, Francis Ford Coppola, Antonio Banderas and Michelle Monaghan.
Kilmer’s daughter Mercedes told the New York Times on Wednesday that the actor had died from pneumonia.
Tom Cruise at Caesars Palace on Thursday. Pic: AP
Diagnosed with throat cancer in 2014, Kilmer discussed his illness and recovery in his 2020 memoir Your Huckleberry and Amazon Prime documentary Val.
He underwent radiation and chemotherapy treatments for the disease and also had a tracheostomy which damaged his vocal cords and permanently gave him a raspy speaking voice.
Kilmer played Batman in the 1995 film Batman Forever and received critical acclaim for his portrayal of rock singer Jim Morrison in the 1991 movie The Doors.
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He also starred in True Romance and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, as well as playing criminal Chris Shiherlis in Michael Mann’s 1995 movie Heat and Doc Holliday in the 1993 film Tombstone.
In 1988 he married British actress Joanne Whalley, whom he met while working on fantasy adventure Willow.
The couple had two children before divorcing in 1996.
Bruce Springsteen is to release seven albums of mostly unheard material this summer.
The US singer said the songs, written and re-recorded between 1983 and 2018, were being made public after he began completing “everything I had in my vault” during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a short video posted on Instagram, Springsteen said the albums were “records that were full records, some of them even to the point of being mixed and not released”.
The 83-song collection is being released in a box set called Tracks II: The Lost Albums and goes on sale on 27 June.
Some 74 of the tracks have never been heard before.
Springsteen first teased the release on Wednesday morning with a short social media video accompanied by text which said: “What was lost has been found”.
Tracks II is the follow-up to the star’s first Tracks volume, a four-CD collection of 66 unreleased songs, released in 1998.
Bruce Springsteen at New York’s Carnegie Hall at a tribute to Patti Smith last month. Pic: PA
The New Jersey-born rocker, nicknamed The Boss, last released a studio album in 2022.
Only the Strong Survive was a collection of covers, including songs by Motown and soul artists, such as the Four Tops, The Temptations, The Supremes, Frankie Wilson and Jimmy Ruffin.
The late soul legend Sam Moore, who died in January and was a frequent Springsteen collaborator, sang on two of the tracks.
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Springsteen is coming to the UK in May to launch a two-month tour of Europe with his E Street Band.
The shows will include performances at the Co-op Live in Manchester and Liverpool’s Anfield stadium.
The singer-songwriter has sold more than 140 million records since his debut on the music scene in 1973, according to his website.
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