You could feel the buzzing excitement in the air while millennial hipsters and indie kids from all around the Bay Area lined up to see dream pop darlings Alvvays (pronounced ‘always’) at downtown Oakland’s legendary Fox Theater. Hailing from Toronto, Canada, the band has held its place in the indie scene for over a decade. Touring off the back of the two year old record Blue Rev, released to critical acclaim, that earned Alvvays their first Grammy nomination. I was amazed by their set while sitting in the grass at Outside Lands 2023, so I was very much looking forward to seeing the band again in their own headline show.
Once getting into the venue, my party and I stationed ourselves promptly towards the back of the pit on the right side. We had the pleasure of watching New Zealand based indie-rock band The Beths open (who, coincidentally, we also heard at Outside Lands). These guys absolutely captured the audience, as everyone around us were hyped up by the driving power pop rhythms, with the classic slight-head-bob spreading throughout the crowd like wildfire. They also enjoyed a healthy amount of cheeky accented banter, which was fun and lighthearted and added to their personality as a whole. I can’t forget the giant fish head planted on stage, in which the band surveyed the crowd about—being met with moderate applause and admiration. After closing their set with the title track of their latest record, Expert in a Dying Field, we were left pumped and ready to take on the headliner.
I line up at the barricade to take photos of the band and it was almost hard to focus upon the opening songs. There were back to back bangers that I couldn’t help but sing along with the camera up to my eye to the iconic lines “I dropped out / college education’s a dull knife” in the song to start off the set (“Easy On Your Own?”). Hazy yet strong vocals over a blistering indie rock sound; the band had made their grand entrance for sure. Immediately followed by hits like “After The Earthquake” and “In Undertow,” a beautiful pace had been set and I was ready to enjoy the rest of the show from the audience. While the band wasn’t really focused on showmanship, I can say I gladly felt lost in all the glittering guitars and dreamy synths. Songs like “Velveteen” lifted me into a world of 80’s pop rock perfection, swaying with my eyes closed and feeling the sound in my chest.
It’s not lost on me that the single “Belinda Says” was nominated for the Best Alternative Performance Grammy in 2023, as the crowd passionately sang both the lyrics “Paradise / and I find myself paralyzed” and “Gonna move into the country / gonna have that baby.” The fuzzy electric guitars at the end took the performance to an all-time level. While some of the songs blurred together in my memory, that only aided the dreaminess of the overall experience. Floating from song to song while the audience takes it all in can be described with the all encompassing: it was a vibe. Hits sprinkled throughout the setlist, you couldn’t go a couple songs without hearing a melody even a casual Alvvays fan wouldn’t know by heart. Deep cut “Tile by Tile” was a beautiful string-laced surprise with romantic or even vampiric synths that I have since fallen in love with after this show.
At the end of the main setlist, we found ourselves with possibly my favorite Alvvays song, both live and studio version: “Lottery Noises.” The soft intro drifted into, with only lead singer Molly Rankin’s soft vocal and light keyboard synthesizer, an exploding bright, grandiose, psychedelic dream of a closing song to an amazing set. I was genuinely impressed with Rankin’s vocal performance during the whole show, but especially this track. The passionate and soaring ending belt with the lyric “Now that you’re around…” on repeat with whispery background vocals dancing around her powerful voice. It was amazing to witness, and difficult not to feel somewhat emotional hearing this grand ending in a room full of people feeling the same way.
The encore consisted of two more fan favorite tracks: “Pharmacist,” the opening track to Blue Rev, as well as “Next of Kin” to close out the whole thing. A song dating back to their first album released a full decade ago, paired with an epic modern album opener gives us the impression that Alvvays is standing the test of time; a stance firm on a decades long discography that fans still pack into theaters to hear.
Leaving the venue to the smell of a plethora of downtown Oakland’s finest bacon wrapped hot dog carts, Alvvays left me feeling hazy — ready to incorporate “Blue Rev” back into my mix two years after its release. Just in time for fall.
Review & photos by Jaida Berkheimer
