Alvvays Transcendent: a stunning night at the Roadrunner

By Sarah Fournell // Photos by Marc Fitch

Hundreds escaped the cold on Friday, November 18, and huddled together in the cozy Roadrunner for the final night of Alvvays’ Fall Tour. As purple confetti fell from the shows of the past, the beanie-clad crowd flooded the floor for Slow Pulp’s set. 

Slow Pulp created a dreamy atmosphere for the night with their hazy set. Their synth-ridden dream pop tracklist provided the perfect appetizer for Alvvays, a group that they said they were “over the moon” to be opening for. With a charming disposition and relaxed, folk psychedelic sound, they outfitted the stage with the demeanor of a band in a 90’s teen movie. The Wisconsin based band, which consists of Emily Massey on lead vocals and guitar, Alex Leeds on bass and vocals, Teddy Mathews on drums, and Henry Stoehr on guitar, encapsulated a midwest sound with an edge. Songs like “New Media” and “At Home” were sway-inducing crowd pleasers, but it wasn’t until the end of their set that the crowd fully warmed up to the group. During their final song, “Montana” Massey flashed a harmonica, creating an exhilarated stir among the audience, fully warming them up for Alvvays’ set to come.

 Alvvays (which I still, in my head, despite knowing it is incorrect, say Al-va-vays) set a high standard for the rest of the night by opening with “Pharmacist.” The group leaned heavily into the distortion on this one,the warped sound serving a resounding welcome to the excited audience. “Excited” couldn’t begin to describe the emotion in the Roadrunner, which was brimming with feverish anticipation from the opening notes of Alvvays’ set.

While the group stuck to songs from their latest album Blue Rev, they also diverged to fan favorites of albums past. A quick glance into the crowd wouldn’t help you distinguish which songs were and weren’t fan favorites, as audience members received every song in the same, explosive way. There was unexpected, passionate moshing and jumping for every song performed, the impassioned 80s synth pop lovechild “After the Earthquake” garnered the same physical response as the delicate and dreamy “Dreams Tonite.” Lyrics of heartbreak, loneliness, and disorientation tumbled over the fingertips of the crowd, who rather than ruminate over the sensations, danced them off with absentmindedness instead. Flawlessly ricocheting between wistful cries and deep bass notes, lead vocalist Molly Rankin traversed the tempestuous setlist with the gracefulness of a tightrope dancer. 

Alvvays, which consists of Molly Rankin on guitar and vocals,  Kerri MacLellan on keyboards, Alec O'Hanley on guitar, Abbey Blackwell on bass, and Sheridan Riley on drums, maintained an assured suaveness throughout the night, radiating coolness from behind their instruments. Riley sported a black and white striped shirt that matched the striped logo on the drum kit. They kept the banter brief, only stopping their performance a few times, once to reflect on their last trip to Boston, “You guys had just gotten Kyrie.” This testament to time was met with jeers and boos from the crowd, and an impish giggle from Rankin. They then dove headfirst back into the setlist, completely dissipating any sneering that lingered from the Kyrie remark.

Rankin spent the duration of the new wave, haunted sounding “Very Online Guy,” on the floor of the stage, methodically fiddling with knobs on the pedal board while simultaneously holding the mic. She popped back up to her feet for fan favorite “Adult Diversion,” followed by the heartbreaking “Not My Baby.”  Each song performed was enveloped in emotion, perpetuated by the ever-changing visuals behind them. A mix of cascading shapes and lines of a direct animation effect, and warm blankets of color were projected onto the curtain behind the group, giving each song its own distinct look. The remorseful “In Undertow” was shrouded in blue, and the chaotic “Pomeranian Spinster” bathed in orange. 

Live, their sound took on a more rock-heavy approach to their recorded work, completely elevating the raw emotion behind their music. However, the inherent etherealness of their discography was preserved underneath the more gruff, distorted melodies. Rankin’s pleading vocals stood out strongest in the debaucherous “Party Police,” with the instrumentals giving way for her yearning voice in the bridge. There was a spirit of genuinity in “Easy on Your Own?” as it was performed with such candor, that the question posed, “Does it get easy on your own?” felt as though it was being asked for the very first time at that moment. 

They ended their tour with a three song encore, which prompted the elated concertgoer next to me to exclaim “Woah, three song encore!” Over the uproarious cheering when they reunited with the stage for the encore, O’Hanley spoke for the first time, uttering an honest “Thank you” into the mic. The soul stirring “Ones Who Love You,” which was a rarely performed song on this tour, the nostalgic sounding “Next of Kin,” and the lackadaisical “Lottery Noises” wrapped up the night. When the lights finally rose at the end, the crowd stood frozen in time for just a second, in what looked like disbelief that any time had passed at all over the course of the night.