I wasn't initially too impressed by Superfood's (7.2) reinvention from Brit-pop aping B-Towner's to Dirty Hit signed sample junkies. Superfood have clearly become one of the most unique and creative indie bands to come from Birmingham or otherwise. Yet I don't think the new songs are quite up to the standards of the older material. Although the crowd that came early for their home-town set don't seem to agree with me. While 'Bambino' is mostly based around samples and laptop beats. The live band that is Superfood is a different beast. Carl Griffin and Emily Baker still tour with the band and their live sound benefits hugely from the drumming of the former. Dom and Ryan may incorporate more sampling into songs such as 'double dutch' but their twin guitars make for a noisier, heavier band. The mosh-pits that ensued show that Superfood have stepped up their game massively.Sunflower Bean (7.6) are not one for introductions, Nick Kivlen and Julia Cumming ran onto the stage, both simply saying 'Hi' before starting their set. It's not hard to see why they have gained so much hype over the past year. Sunflower Bean look and sound like a music nerds wet dream. Looking like a young Debbie Harry and Bob Dylan in shiny silver jumpsuits and taking cues from a melting pot of sounds. The occasional heavy Sabbath riffs, trippy Tame Impala jams, C86 indie and the many New York bands to break through before them. As Sunflower Bean are keen to remind people, they are from New York city. All the best New York bands soak in the grit, pollution and paranoia of the city in their sound. Unfortunately Sunflower Bean are not one of those bands. Lacking the edginess that made their forebears so appealing. They also lack a unique enough sound to have the same influence as the likes of Television, The Strokes or Parquet Courts*. The best moments are the extended jams when songs such as 'Come On' are stretched far out enough to show that Sunflower Bean are clearly fantastically talented musicians. When they become more than the sum of their influences, they could become something very special.
There are two sides to Wolf Alice (9.2). Both are best represented by the first two songs of their set and second album 'Visions of a Life'. Heavenward is Wolf Alice at their most beautiful and melancholy. The studio version of the track simply can't contain the beautiful noise the band make live, nor the vocal abilities of Ellie Rowsell. Not since 8 years ago when I saw Florence and the Machine play in the same room have I heard a singer so fantastic at projecting her voice. While Florence has a tendency to over sing, Ellie fills the room with her almost operatic range. The other side of Wolf Alice and Ellie is the gloriously pissed off 'Yuk Foo'. While 'Heavenward' was Ellie sounding virginal and well.. heavenly. 'Yuk Foo' is the sweary, screamy flipside. Ellie's ability to go from one extreme to another marks her out as being one of the great female rock singers.
Wolf Alice also remind me of the old adage that 'less is more' with some of the most creative stage lighting I've seen a band use. For most of the songs they wre bathed in white spotlights, or flooded with red or blue lights. The white lighting was a plus for all the many fans taking photographs on their phones. A mirror-ball shone for the more romantic 'don't delete the kisses' and 'beautifully unconventional'.
Interaction with the audience as kept to a minimum, with Ellie saying that they 'always get the best mosh-pits in brum' and 'we love it here!'. I get the feeling that Wolf Alice were being sincere. The setlist was a mix of the songs from their classic début album and earlier hits. Newer tracks such as 'planet hunter' and 'sadboy' (sadly not dedicated to Lil Peep) may not have the instant mosh pit starting appeal of 'your loves whore' or 'you're a germ' yet they have an eerily subtle quality of their own, that matched the slight chill in the air and natural lighting. After an incendiary 'moaning lisa smile' where Joff tossed his guitar up in the air and looked on the verge of smashing it up. 'Visions of a life' was stretched out and made as loud and heavy as possible. Mixing pastoral elements into their sound, I think it's the modern equivalent of what Led Zeppelin did with their third album. Epic, heavy and oddly folky at the same time. 'Fluffy' pulled things back to their punk roots, and the inevitable encore ended with what is probably the definitive Wolf Alice song 'Giant Peach'. As a sea of fans, jumped, pushed each other and sat on each other shoulders. Believe the hype, Wolf Alice are one of the great British rock bands. 
*yeah yeah, I know they're from Texas
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