It’s All Love with Alvvays at The Fillmore

Alvvays enchants with their first gig back in the Bay Area since 2018 alongside new release, Blue Rev (2022).

“How I gauge whether this is stasis or change”…

I’m 15 screaming the lyrics to “Archie, Marry Me” tearing up the coast with my childhood friend who just got her license. 

I’m 17 about to graduate high school thinking about how “Dreams Tonight” would be the perfect send off song. 

Now I’m 22 gearing up for my early 20’s post-grad life with the entirety of Blue Rev (2022) to navigate how the hell I’m supposed to do it on my own. Is it easy on our own? Well, with Alvvays, I’d argue it’s easier. 

Molly Rankin

It’s Wednesday and a little chilly – colder than San Francisco’s usual weather. The Fillmore stands as a welcoming beacon in the fog, inviting longtime fans into the cozy warmth that a mutual love of a great band creates. It’s been about four years since Alvvays has been back in the Bay Area and the trail of eager, toothy grins is telling me it’s been worth the wait. It’s only 7:15 and the merch line is longer than the line to get in. 

Before Alvvays graces the stage, relatively new band Slow Pulp steals the show and amps the energy of an already buzzing crowd to lash out some shoe-gazy dream pop bangers. I love Slow Pulp and have been waiting to see the indie-rockers since they toured with Alex G in 2019. Though at some times a little ear-piercingly loud, the gorgeous waves of fluorescent light and the harmonica solo dawned by lead Emily Massey were enough to draw me in.

Not long after Slow Pulp exited the stage, did an Enya-esque walkout song begin to play alongside a plethora of flashing orange lights. The energy of the crowd became tangible, I could feel the excitement of the venue on my skin. Old friends began to hoot and holler, new friends clinked their glasses and exchanged social media handles, and couples – couples everywhere embraced and exemplified the love felt between everyone in the moments before an Alvvays show.

Slow Pulp

Molly Rankin and the band were completely enthralling from the moment they stepped onstage. Bathed in a hazy shade of orange, the familiar tune of a new song off Blue Rev, “Pharmacist”, rung on and the crowd went wild. Their stage presence was intoxicating, as well as the performances that came from inside the crowd. To the left of me appeared to be a dance circle, and to the right, the most polite and inviting mosh pit I’ve ever seen. 

The band teased familiar, dreamy melodies before each song started. It gave me enough time to hear the crowd yell “This is their best song!” before basically every track Molly began to sing. And by the way, man, the voice of that girl! Molly sounded exactly how she does on every record, arguably even better live. Her voice is raw and real and encapsulates all of the themes of love and longing and online-dating frustration sprinkled throughout the new record. 

Fan favorites like “Adult Diversion,” “Archie, Marry Me,” “Ones Who Love You,” and “Party Police” garnered an ecstatic reaction from attendees, jumping up and down and screaming the lyrics. For my personal favorite, “Dreams Tonight” the Fillmore revealed a disco ball and suddenly I was nostalgic for the naivety of my youth, and middle school dances.

Not only did seemingly every concert goer know the words to the biggest hits, but also the new songs and quiet songs alike. Alvvays has a cult-like following of fans. They’re there to see their favorite band play, not look through the viewfinder of their phone and awkwardly mouth lyrics they don’t know. Concert goers came to the Fillmore October 27, 2022 to escape the monotony of their daily lives and become fully immersed in the dream-pop multiverse perfectly crafted by Alvvays. Like me, many fans encountered their young adult life with Alvvays by their side, and it was surreal to see the albums that shaped our youth played live. I’ve spent weekends alone, crawled down monochromatic hallways, I even have student loans to pay, and I thank the universe that Alvvays verbalized those icky feelings in a way I can lose myself dancing to. The concert was admittedly the best concert I’ve been to. It was so inviting, so invigorating, and so good, that I ultimately forgot to pull out my phone and take notes when I wanted to. I think that’s telling though, that if you’ve been wondering whether or not you should buy that ticket, or if you can totally relate, Alvvays is a band you cannot miss. 

And, be sure to listen to Blue Rev (2022) released October 7th.

Words by Avery Flieder

Photos by Lucy Gleeson