Review: Alessi Rose takes her “for your validation” Tour to Birmingham with Chloe Slater
Introduction:
Alessi Rose has been busy thus far, crafting a sound that wraps around multiple different sub genres. Pulling the most important and addictive sounds from each to create a uniqueness of her own. Chloe Slater is busy bringing the volume, she’s no support act, she a definitive artist in her own right. The way I saw this show was two similar and but different artists coming together to essentially ‘rock’ the stage. Both in their early twenties, the two were surrounded by a star-like aura; I’m unsure whether this was because their audiences were so young, and so energetic. But I have to say this. The energy and electricity in the room was simply undeniable. I’ve been in the O2 Institute a multitude of times and have never seen anything like it!
Chloe Slater
Whilst Chloe took the stage, I got to speaking to the man next to me, who was at the show with his wife and daughter. He was explaining to me the connection his daughter has to Chloe and Alessi, and I spoke to him about the growth in popularity of the two. When I first came across Chloe and Alessi – they were both at the beginning of their careers. He spoke about the influence of social media and platforms like Tik Tok, and the accessibility of artists today, and how easy it is to hear the music. They had travelled outside a couple of hours to get to the show (dedication), and his kid was on top of the barrier on the balcony, fully engrossed, hearing Chloe perform, “Sinking Feeling” and unreleased “Harriet”.
Chloe really is one of the most exciting young voices in music today – 2024 was her breakout year, and all the signs so far point to Chloe having a hugely successful career. I think the main thing here is that Chloe’s music is anything but simplistic. It’s full of meaning, and important messages. I’ve never seen an audience light up so much for an artist in a ‘guest’ position.
Chloe’s performance was great. Loud and great. She sticks out in the indie market, because she just doesn’t sound the same as everyone else, and her lyrics hold so much worth.
Overall her production and show could have gone on all night long, and I don’t think anyone would have minded. The performance felt short, in a strange way. And I think that’s only because everyone in the room was so up for it and engrossed. I filtered around the whole room, back rows, front rows, anywhere I could get, to gage the reaction of the crowd, and genuinely even up in the rafters, the people loved her – and that should tell you everything you need to know. It really made me happy to see just how much the crowd showed up for Chloe. To me one of the problems with live music is the “support” position, I think real fans of music would be more than happy to see and hear as much music as possible. But a lot of the time artists are missed, because of travelling, toilet breaks, merch buying. This was not the case here, they were as ready for Chloe just as much as they were for Alessi – which just brought the whole experience and night together.
Alessi Rose
In the same vein the crowd went crazy for Alessi Rose. I didn’t think they’d have much left in them at this point, but they were very much re-energised at her emergence. I spoke to bar staff and security working the door and asked them about the loudness in the room (the crowd reaction was incredible). They all said they’d never heard the crowd react in the way they did on that night. It was a valid reaction – the staging of both Chloe’s and Alessi’s performance was translated well in the Institute. The room is really quite small in comparison to other venues and especially for Alessi’s performance I was a lil’ worried about whether or not she would be seen along with how much she’d be able to do. She used the space incredibly well and equally, no matter where you were sitting or standing you’d be able to see what was happening. On the balcony views were restricted, but for me I was just really appreciating the love and support for Alessi in the room.
I once again got speaking to those around me, which you may find strange whilst watching a performance, but especially in the moments where Alessi was out of sight, or when she was setting up for the next song, we got to talking. My next encounter was with a wonderful lady called Gemma who was attending with her daughter Tilda and her friend Martha. Again, Tilda and Martha were on the barricade of the balcony like the other families daughter, and we once again spoke about all the great stuff that was going on in the room. It was so nice to hear once again about the love they had for Alessi, how they really saw her as an inspiration and as a role model, especially as they are so young. I think if as an artist you can be viewed as an inspiration or role model in this way, you’ve really done something right with your art – it’s not a title or something you can win over easily.
I especially enjoyed Alessi’s cover of “What You Waiting For” by Gwen Stefani, which really brought an edge to the show, especially in its closing songs. It surprised me that she played it live, I feel like it contrasts Alessi’s vibe slightly, musically, but she really made it her own. The setlist included a few moments for speech, and Alessi’s eyes darted all over the room in the segments, she fully embraced the crowd, and shared a connection with everybody.
