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Wolf People
Venue: Brudenell Social Club
Date of gig: Saturday, 14th January 2012
A comfortably full Brudenell Social Club greeted Wolf People on the Leeds leg of their four date UK tour. The pre-gig line check was a far cry from that of fearsome stadium devouring rock gods such as Coldplay, Take That and Keane. The Wolf People set-up their own gear. None of the audience seemed bothered that the performers they had paid £8 to see were mingling amongst them, attempting to locate elusive jack inputs and plectrums. Then again, they are just blokes in jumpers. Bearded blokes in jumpers at that. Compare this to the audience: comprised mostly of bearded blokes in jumpers; then some people aspiring to be bearded blokes in jumpers and the remainder that looked like they hung out with bearded blokes in jumpers. There's nothing wrong with this, it's a purely objective observation. Who was to know that these lads were about to get up on stage and launch on a valve-powered quest to give us a good rocking? Perhaps the patrons of the Brudenell Social Club uniformly rejected all forms of star worship or any thing that resembles a cult of personality. Maybe not. Whatever the case, the atmosphere was similar to that of any cosy pub gig. Which is probably exactly how Wolf People like it.
Onwards to the valve-powered rock quest! If you want to compare this group with other musical artists, one might describe them as a halfway house between Traffic and Jethro Tull, with mild sprinklings of Sabbath, Blue Cheer, Hendrix etc. I myself could easily envisage them as the house band at Glastonbury, being paid by the local authorities to constantly play under a sign that says 'Welcome To Glastonbury'. The first thing the frontman said was 'Greetings'. I half expected his next phrase to be 'Merry we meet'. The band opened with 'Silbury Sands', the first track off their album Steeple. Beginning in a folk-style, it develops into a funky mid-paced chugger. Those present nodded their heads appreciatively. No-one went wild, but there was a mutual feeling of contentment. This was basically the pattern for the rest of the gig (musically, physically and emotionally). The boys from Wolf People aren't entertainers as such - it could be argued that their stage performance was a little bit wooden. The manner in which they conducted themselves seemed to personify their music rather well. Step forward a bit, step back a bit, nod your head every now and then, move to the side, move back again, coda, fin. This was all the punters wanted, mind you. Every mid-paced song ending was countered by a reliable mid-paced cheer from the crowd. The Wolf People were giving the Brudenell's people exactly what they wanted. They were serving a purpose. From Plato's point of view, it was beautiful.
Other album tracks like 'Morning Born', 'Cromlech' and 'One By One From Dorney Reach' elicited a gentle build-up to the encore. This featured their most-well known track, 'Tiny Circle'. Lacking the slightly jazzy bite of the flute-filled studio version, the song didn't quite lift off, yet was still satisfyingly executed. It does not appear as if Wolf People are planning to set the world alight anytime soon. More like they want to give a small but loyal minority a gentle toasting. The band were happy, the audience were happy, who's to stop them?
Written by: James Elson
