Band of the moment Wolf Alice close epic Teenage Cancer Trust at the Royal Albert Hall concert series
Band of the moment Wolf Alice put in a fittingly epic performance to close the legendary Teenage Cancer Trust at the Royal Albert Hall series - at the invitation of guest curator Robert Smith.
From March 23-29, other headliners selected by The Cure legend include elbow, Mogwai, Manic Street Preachers, my bloody valentine and Garbage, as well as a night of Robert Smith’s Comedy Favourites.
Having picked up the Brit Award for Group Of The Year, Wolf Alice were the perfect act to close this year’s concerts. Ellie Rowsell, Joff Oddie, Joel Amey and Theo Ellis commanded the stage, leading out with ‘Heavenward’, ‘White Horses’, ‘Just Two Girls’, as well as a striking version of ‘How Can I Make It Okay’.
“Good evening Royal Albert Hall! This is a beautiful venue and for such an amazing cause. I want you to have the best Sunday night ever,” Rowsell called out to the crowd.
“I want to try something different tonight,” Rowsell said before she ushered four musicians onto the stage who supported the band in a folk music section, including pieces of traditional music and two unreleased original songs, ‘Hit The Sky’ and ‘Gospel Oak’. At one point, Rowsell became choked up but the crowd cheered the band on to finish the song to thunderous applause.
Introduced by the band as a song dedicated to friendship, debut album track ‘Bros’ was phenomenal. Later, ‘Bloom Baby Bloom’ off the Mercury Prize-nominated The Clearing, featuring an impressive guitar solo at the tail end of the song. Elsewhere, the British band rolled out a slow-paced start to ‘Last Man on Earth’ as the venue’s organ rang out, backing Rowsell’s raw, emotional vocals.
“Thank you so, so much for coming here tonight. It means so much to us that we got to play this show that we got to raise money for Teenage Cancer Trust,” Rowsell told the crowd before a euphoric finale. “Thank you for allowing us to play songs we haven’t played for some time and some we haven’t played forever. This last one is called ‘Don’t Delete The Kisses’
The night was introduced by BBC Radio 1’s Jack Saunders, who said: “I was blown away to be asked by Robert Smith to compere the show. I saw the email and assumed it was spam! Teenage Cancer Trust is an incredible cause to be involved in so when I was asked it was a no-brainer.
“And Wolf Alice - what a band. I've known them for a very long time so to be able to have them here at the Royal Albert Hall - it’s an incredible, emotional night.”
British Turkish singer Nilũfer Yana captivated the audience with charged rock-laden live renditions of her popular songs ‘Method Actor’ and ‘Chase Me’. A semi-stripped back, tender version of ‘Call It Love’ swept through the Royal Albert Hall, against interludes of a jazzy saxophone.
Addressing the crowd, she said: “I’m honoured to be here with Wolf Alice and with Teenage Cancer Trust. Thank you to Robert Smith for having us; I’m a big fan.”
Closing out with her monumental track ‘Midnight Sun’, Yana soaked in the venue, thanking the audience.
“Thank you so much for coming out tonight. It’s an honour to be here tonight before Wolf Alice — and for such a good cause as well,” she said. “Have a great night and enjoy Wolf Alice, it’s going to be an amazing show.”
Celebrated accordionist Nihad Hrustanbegovic played at the venue each night as audiences arrived at Teenage Cancer Trust at the Royal Albert Hall.
Ahead of Wolf Alice’s incredible set, Verity Barker, 26, from Bristol, was welcomed to the stage by Jack Saunders, alongside other young people supported by Teenage Cancer Trust. Verity was diagnosed with a rare, incurable cancer at the age of 17 and has relapsed several times since. A short film showed onstage detailed how she has faced receiving a terminal diagnosis, being told she had just weeks to live and the support she received from Teenage Cancer Trust. A clinical trial has extended her life, and commemorating her 26th birthday, a date Verity said she did not expect to live to see, the Royal Albert Hall crowd celebrated with a moving singalong of Happy Birthday.
