Alvvays delivered one of the best sets of the 2023 Outside Lands music festival, delighting thousands of fans who turned out to see the super-cool Canadian indie-pop act perform at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco.
Now, the band is set to return to Northern California and will play shows at the Ace of Spades in Sacramento on May 13 and the Catalyst in Santa Cruz on May 14. Showtime is 7 p.m. and tickets start at $89 (subject to change) in Sacramento (ticketmaster.com), while the gig begins at 8 p.m. and tickets are $32-$37 in Santa Cruz (etix.com).
Formed in 2011, Alvvays (pronounced “Always”) released its wonderful self-titled debut in 2014 and immediately garnered a sizable following in the indie/college music scene. The record ended up being shortlisted for the Polaris Music Prize (given to the best Canadian album of the year) in 2015, but ended up losing to Buffy Sainte-Marie’s “Power in the Blood.”
The group then returned in 2017 with another winning effort, “Antisocialites,” which earned another Polaris shortlist nod. Yet, that 2018 prize would go to Jeremy Dutcher’s “Wolastoqiyik Lintuwakonawa.”
Alvvays — featuring vocalist-guitarist Molly Rankin, keyboardist Kerri MacLellan, guitarist Alec O’Hanley, drummer Sheridan Riley and bassist Abbey Blackwell – is currently supporting 2022’s excellent “Blue Rev,” which — yes — once again garnered a Polaris shortlist spot, but fell short to Debby Friday’s “Good Luck.”
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If you can’t make either of these shows in May — or simply want to maximize the Alvvays experience — the band will return to the area to perform on Aug. 16 at the Fox Theater in Oakland, apeconcerts.com.