wolf alice blue weekend tour

Live Review: Wolf Alice Close Their North American ’22 Tour in Los Angeles

Wolf Alice played their greatest hits in the final installment of their North American 2022 tour, bringing an effervescent energy to the city that in part inspired their latest album, ‘Blue Weekend.’

A s another Los Angeles sunset fades to dusk, a stirring crowd wraps around three blocks in the heart of Koreatown. The doors of The Wiltern, a redesigned art deco theater that’s become one of the city’s most established rock & indie venues, open strictly at 7:00 PM, but this doesn’t stop the masses from swaying over the barricades with exponentially increasing anticipation.

Having last appeared in the city in June while accompanying Halsey in her sold-out show at the Hollywood Bowl, Wolf Alice maintained high momentum amongst their Los Angeles fans who remained eager for a standalone performance. That being said, this show, their final on their North American tour, was undoubtedly saturated with long-time fans, many of whom proudly sported merchandise from the band’s earlier albums, including My Love Is Cool and Visions of a Life , as they strolled their way to the pit.

The show opened with a performance from Crows, a UK-based indie rock band with an effortlessly authoritative stage presence. Following this, the stage lights were dimmed only momentarily, as a white flash strobe quickly signaled the bands introduction as the signature opening guitar riff of ‘Smile’ coated the walls of the theater. Lead singer Ellie Roswell, guitarist Joff Odie, bassist Theo Ellis, and drummer Joel Amey were welcomed with a roar of applause as they began one of their most popular singles from their most recent album. 

Blue Weekend , their third studio album, pulls from their signature shoegaze mix, boasting dynamic vocals and emotive lyricism that resonated with fans and critics worldwide.

Following its release, the Mercury Prize winning band received another major accolade: the 2022 Brit Award for Best British Group. Following festival appearances from Lollapalooza to Mad Cool, the group kicked off a North American tour, with a final show in Los Angeles, a city heavily referenced in the album. But this show doesn’t mark any pause in touring; after a quick stop at the When We Were Young Festival in Las Vegas, Wolf Alice embarks on the European leg of the tour, which is set to end in late November. 

Los Angeles, though, appears to still hold a special place in the band’s memories. “We love this city. We’ve made music here, we’ve done a lot of weird stuff here,” bassist Theo Ellis laughs between tracks. The band went on to perform “You’re a Germ” and “Formidable Cool” before trading the bright white lights for a sultry red and gliding into the atmospheric “Delicious Things,” which paints a blurry image of finding your place and creative voice far-from-home in the heavily romanticized city of Los Angeles.

The guy from the garden, I think his name is Adam He’s in bed here beside me, though I think he is a bad man He like the fact that I play music in a band He is making a movie and the score needs a hand Feel like I’m falling, dreams slowly stalling Extravagance disguised as elegance is boring I don’t belong here, though it really is quite fun here “Hey, is Mum there? It’s just me, I felt like calling.”

I won’t say no, i’ll give it a go i won’t say no, i’ll give it a shot for a spot at the top, a girl like me would you believe i’m in los angeles.

Wolf Alice continued their set with a blend of old and new gems, from ‘Planet Hunter’ and ‘Silk’ to “Safe From Heartbreak (If You Never Fall In Love)”. There were a few notable highlights in the night– one in particular during ‘No Hard Feelings’, where Ellie sits on the edge of the stage and meets the audience for a stripped down ballad.

The band returned for an encore performance of ‘The Beach II’, ‘The Last Man on Earth’, and the highly anticipated ‘Don’t Delete The Kisses’, the cinematic dream-pop single that distinguished them in the UK indie scene back in 2017. The crowd erupted in praise as the nostalgic track brought a close to the evening, and as the music faded and fans rushed to the stage in hopes of nabbing a setlist, it was clear that Wolf Alice will continue to have a home here in Los Angeles.

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Wolf Alice announce 2021 ‘Blue Weekend’ North American tour

"America baby! It’s been so long since we’ve been gone, but hope is on the horizon, we’re coming back"

Wolf Alice have announced that they’ll be embarking on a 2021 North American tour in support of their new album, ‘Blue Weekend’.

• READ MORE: Wolf Alice: “We’re a tiny bit more comfortable in the world”

The London band’s third LP arrives tomorrow (June 4) via Dirty Hit, featuring the singles ‘How Can I Make It OK?’ ,  ‘No Hard Feelings’ ,  ‘The Last Man On Earth’  and  ‘Smile’ .

The US tour begins on October 25 in Seattle, and includes stops in Portland, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Denver, Minneapolis, Chicago, Boston, NYC, Washington DC, Nashville and wraps up in Atlanta on November 20. You can see a full list of dates below.

Announcing the tour on Instagram, Wolf Alice wrote: “America baby! It’s been so long since we’ve been gone, but hope is on the horizon, we’re coming back. Grab tix and come join the party, we’ve missed you.”

Tickets go on sale Friday June 4 at 10am US local time – get them here .

https://www.instagram.com/p/CPqR5YkI8H1/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

WOLF ALICE: 2021 US TOUR

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OCTOBER, 2021 25 – Seattle, WA – Showbox Market 26 – Portland, OR – Crystal Ballroom 28 – Los Angeles, CA – Teragram Ballroom 29 – Los Angeles, CA – Teragram Ballroom 30 – San Francisco, CA – August Hall

NOVEMBER, 2021 1 – Salt Lake City, UT – Grand @ The Complex 3 – Denver, CO – Bluebird Theater 4 – Denver, CO – Bluebird Theater 6 – Minneapolis, MN – Fine Line 8 – Chicago, IL – The Vic 9 – Columbus, OH – Newport 11 – Boston, MA – Paradise Rock Club 12 – New York, NY – Bowery Ballroom 13 – New York, NY – Bowery Ballroom 15 – Washington, DC – Union Stage 16 – Washington, DC – Union Stage 18 – Nasvhille, TN – Cannery 20 – Atlanta, GA – Terminal West

Wolf Alice will take the record on the road in the UK next January , when they’ll perform in Glasgow, Newcastle, Manchester, Liverpool, London and other cities over the course of the month. You can purchase any remaining tickets here .

“I can’t wait to play these new songs live they are gonna sound so gooooood,” the band said in a statement. “Joff’s pedal board literally sounds like an orchestra at the moment and you have no idea how sweet Theo’s falsetto is rn.”

In a five-star review of the album, NME ‘s Rhian Daly called ‘Blue Weekend’ “another stone-cold masterpiece that further cements [Wolf Alice’s] place at the very peak of British music.”

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Blue Weekend (Tour Deluxe)

October 29, 2021 16 Songs, 59 minutes ℗ 2021 RCA Records, a division of Sony Music Entertainment

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• Consequence

Wolf Alice on Their Favorite Fests, Deluxe Version of Blue Weekend: We Want “To Play This Album in as Many Places as Possible”

Theo Ellis and Ellie Rowsell on returning to the road and their favorite lockdown tunes

Ahhh, the pre-tour butterflies. After a year and a half of uncertainty, bands all over the globe are finally hitting the road to support albums they released during the pandemic. One such band is Wolf Alice , who just began their North American tour this week in support of their excellent third album,  Blue Weekend .

When  Consequence  caught up with the band’s Ellie Rowsell and Theo Ellis, however, they were both in their respective London homes resting before a month-long trek — as well as preparing to release the deluxe version of Blue Weekend , which includes a few live tracks and a cover Alex G’s “Bobby.” The new edition will arrive on Friday, October 29th.

Bands like Wolf Alice are touring juggernauts, playing many festivals around the world frequently and throwing thrilling, energy-heavy headlining shows. Their tour schedule for  Blue Weekend proves to be no different: after finishing their US run, Wolf Alice are set to do a massive UK and Europe run at the start of the new year, followed by a packed summer festival season.

Wolf Alice on Balancing Emotions, Playing the Hits, and New Album Blue Weekend

But above all, they’re just happy that people have been connecting with  Blue Weekend: “… when “The Last Man On Earth”  came out, which was the first single and the process began, it was really joyful from start to finish,” says Ellis, reflecting on this year and the release.

Throughout the chat, Wolf Alice also reflect on some of their favorite songs to play live, their favorite festivals, the music they’ve been listening to, their admiration for Alex G, John Prine, and much more.

You can check out Wolf Alice on tour this month throughout North America; tickets are available via Ticketmaster .

Watch the full interview with the band above.

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Wolf alice on their favorite fests, deluxe version of blue weekend: we want "to play this album in as many places as possible".

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Blue Weekend

By Ian Cohen

Dirty Hit / RCA

June 17, 2021

Not everyone has the energy, confidence, or money to be among the crowd at Glastonbury or Primavera, playing Tetris with the festival schedule, shuttling between three different stages trying to catch the best 10 minutes of every set. Wolf Alice’s extravagantly emotive third LP, Blue Weekend, is a safe substitute for the experience, not just for 2021 but for virtually any year between 2017’s Visions of a Life and now. Blue Weekend is fluent in both alt-rock and the domain of pop artists that are most likely to headline alt-rock festivals. They’re the platonic ideal for big-tent rock music in 2021: lead singer Ellie Rowsell gives 20-somethings the megaphone of a superhuman, working through vices, crises of confidence, and a pervasive misogyny that success has only worsened, upending UK lad-rock supremacy while staying firmly within its lineage.

Blue Weekend makes ample use of the big Wolf Alice jukebox. When the negative space is flooded with reverb, Wolf Alice flaunt the glitziest production values ever heard on a shoegaze album; turn the reverb down and they’re a more guitar-centered version of big-budget bedroom-pop. “Safe From Heartbreak (if i never fall in love)” is Wolf Alice’s entry into indie-adjacent, twang-free country-pop; strip away the floodlit harmonies that make Rowsell sound like a one-woman Staves and the 12-string overdubs and it’s an Elliott Smith song.

But if there’s any overarching pop culture trend defining Wolf Alice’s existence, it’s how they repackage existing IP to reflect modern sensibilities. This is where Wolf Alice’s impact feels most distinct: Rowsell eyerolls her way through “Last Man on Earth,” which variously recalls Bowie , the Beatles , and Pink Floyd as she mocks the mythos of male genius that animates classic rock boosterism. “Smile” barely conceals its disdain for critical condescension as the band works through a funk-metal groove that could serve as the theme song for a gender-flipped reboot of Entourage.

In the context of popular alternative rock, Blue Weekend is inspiring, maybe even life-changing for anyone who hears “Smile” alongside bands like Royal Blood or Catfish and the Bottlemen. But Blue Weekend can seem a bit circumspect compared to their Dirty Hit labelmates. The 1975 or Rina Sawayama ’s eclecticism is far messier and riskier and no matter where it takes them, they never leave any doubt whose song it is. Three albums in, Wolf Alice still lack a quintessence that immediately establishes a song as Wolf Alice rather than bending to its influences first. Rowsell can sell the feeling of being inelegantly wasted on “Play the Greatest Hits” (“I leave the present empty/But I make it gift wrapped”), but similar to Visions of a Life ’s “ Yuk Foo ,” its foray into a noise can feel a bit tokenized.

On “Delicious Things,” Rowsell dips into a husky lower register to outline a debauched stay in Los Angeles. It all turns on one brilliant final line where Rowsell calls her mom to check in, taking “Delicious Things” out of the realm of musical tourism and into a sad and very human drama; as she takes ownership of her capitulation to the illicit charms of various party favors and wolfish bullshit artists, “Delicious Things” proves the endurance of basic Hollywood fantasies for people who should probably know better.

For all of its obvious ambitions towards creating a “cinematic” scope—quoting Macbeth on opener “The Beach,” ending with “The Beach II,” and fitting a loose breakup narrative in between—Wolf Alice work more on an episodic level, each track creating a specific mood easily separable from the whole. That’s not really a figure of speech—with no way to road test these songs, the band played them against muted YouTube clips to see if they got the vibe right. Blue Weekend always nails the vibe, they nail everything, but often in a way that sounds micromanaged. It’s easy to scapegoat the fussy production of Markus Dravs, which leaves Rowsell like so many of our gifted and versatile actors vying to stuff themselves in a CGI bodysuit for Marvel. But if Blue Weekend sounds too big to fail, he’s doing his job. This is the guy bands call to get that extra boost from “Mercury Prize nominee” to “Grammy winner”: The Suburbs , Viva La Vida , those first two Mumford & Sons albums, Florence and the Machines’ How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful , all of which sound like GarageBand scratch tracks compared to Blue Weekend.

There’s one exception tucked away towards the end, enough to question the album’s entire approach. “No Hard Feelings” mostly consists of Rowsell’s voice backed by bass guitar and almost nothing else—none of the triple-tracked vocals, no guitarmonies, no bleats of synthesizer or Sistine Chapel reverb. Not that it lacks for drama: Rowsell spends the second verse heartbroken in a bathtub, listening to Amy Winehouse, trying to siphon the pain in her music as her own. A few lines later, she realizes “there’s only so much sulking the heart can entertain,” and “No Hard Feelings” emerges as an unusually mature and forward-thinking breakup song.

But nothing less than a masterpiece was to be expected of Wolf Alice’s third album. That’s just how it goes for a certain kind of artful and ambitious British rock band, even if they hadn’t respectively earned a Grammy nomination and the Mercury Prize with their first two. Look, I don’t make the rules, the British press do, and their handiwork has already placed Blue Weekend on a critical echelon occupied by the likes of My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy and To Pimp a Butterfly . You can’t blame anyone for going overboard at a time when Wolf Alice are ever so close to returning to their natural habitat playing to great lawns across the globe, yet the only thing that seems to prevent them coming off like the biggest band in the world on Blue Weekend is that they also want to be every band in the world.

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Wolf Alice Reintroduce Themselves with an Epic Lockdown Album

Blue weekend is out now.

You’ve got to hand it to scrappy British alt-rock quartet Wolf Alice. For its ambitious new third outing Blue Weekend —released today (June 4)— the band is launching a comprehensive promotional campaign that borders on sensory overload. Visually, the album will be available in both picture disc and transparent green vinyl editions, and—as a tactile bonus—a retro-hip purple cassette that fits in the palm of your hand. Additionally, on June 10 at Picture House Central in the band’s native London, a premiere is scheduled for its eponymous Blue Weekend film, helmed by celebrated Anatomy of Goth director Jordan Hemingway (“Pints and ciggies have literally never looked this good,” the Wolf Alice website promises), as is an actual subsequent live acoustic performance. For the full, floor-rattling electric experience, a lengthy October/November American tour just went on sale, so fans can see/hear/the quartet in their own concert-hungry metropolis.

And there’s a bonus for diehards desiring the full experience, reveals guitarist Joff Oddie, who first formed the group with vocalist/keyboardist/co-guitarist Ellie Rowsell as a folk-singing pub-circuit duo back in 2010: Order a special bottle of Blue Weekend Hair Dye , concocted by hip U.K. company Bleach, whose transformative-process tagline promises that “It might be sunny outside, but it’s still raining in your head.” “It’s just a bit of lighthearted fun,” Oddie snickers. “We’re really good friends with Bleach, the people that do the salon and the hair products, so we just thought this would be a nice, fun, kooky little idea.” And fun is often the motivating factor for Wolf Alice merchandise, adds Rowsell, whose hair has remained various shades of ash blonde since the band’s 2015 My Love is Cool debut, and its Grammy-nominated hit U.S. single “Moaning Lisa Smile.” “People used to come to our shows in glitter, because our first album had this glitter on the front cover,” she says. “So it’s always nice to do something like that for your fans.”

Such a carefully calibrated campaign would be just so much smoke and mirrors, of course, if the music lacked substance. But Blue Weekend —recorded in Belgium at Brussels’ IPC Studios with Coldplay/Arcade Fire producer Markus Dravs—is a bold stylistic leap forward for Wolf Alice (which also includes bassist Theo Ellis and drummer Joel Amey). It’s plush in all the right places (the orchestral power ballad “Delicious Times,” a sugary folk-popper called “Safe From Heartbreak,” and the Oasis-huge piano anthem “Last Man on Earth”), jagged where it needs to be (the metal-meets-hip-hop mashup “Smile,” a punk-brutal “Play the Greatest Hits”), and often sits colossus-like astride genres, a la the acoustic-electric, one-two punch of “Lipstick on the Glass,” which ricochets Rowsell’s often chorale-gorgeous voice into new Sun Session slapback territory. The outfit winning the 2018 Mercury Prize for its sophomore Visions of a Life was no fluke—the Oddie/Rowsell team is here to stay, a truth hammered home on them as they sheltered in pandemic place for the Brussels sessions. They spoke about the Blue Weekend process by phone from London this week.

Paste: In 2019, when you took six months off, what did you both do?

Ellie Rowsell: We came off tour, and I guess we had a little break, but not for very long, because we started thinking about, “Okay, do we have any new material?” Because even though we’d just come off tour, it had still been two years since we had released any new music. So I think we were pretty quick to jump straight back into band stuff, if you will—sharing demos, looking for a rehearsal room so we could flesh that out and start working on new stuff, really.

Paste: But Joff actually worked for a food trust during the break?

Joff Oddie: Yeah, I did a bit of volunteering, and I’ve kinda done that on and off ever since, really—volunteered down at a food bank in Camden. And I also did a couple of weeks down in Plymouth, volunteering for the Red Cross and their Family Reunion Service. And Family Reunion is something in the U.K. where, if you’re granted asylum from the government, you can apply to have your family come and join you.

Paste: How life-affirming was that?

Oddie: Ummm … mostly it was really difficult. I mean, the stories that these people have are just unbelievable. You wouldn’t believe them, if someone told it to you, the kind of stuff that some people have to go through. So those were just a couple of do-good-y bits, really—I just liked to connect with the real world again.

Paste: Then what happened in Somerset, when you guys hooked up again, later in 2019?

Oddie: We started talking about music again, really. I mean, all the four of us, in a room, you know, we’d been talking about music before. But that was the first time that we actually all got together in the same room and decided that we were going to kind of put the fork in the ground, so to speak, in making this record. And we started jamming, playing with some of the stuff that people had written, and just kind of having fun making music again. And you almost have to get back into it, because you go on tour—and for Visions of a Life we were on tour for almost two years or something, 18 months or two years. And it was amazing, it was really, really great.

Paste: What I hear on this record—and maybe you’ll call me crazy—but I hear church. Sunday morning heavenly choirs, and I don’t know if that’s Markus, Ellie or Joff. But this sounds almost like a hymnal.

Rowsell: Yeah, that makes sense. Speaking for myself, I’m not sure if there’s anything lyrically religious in it, because I guess a lot of religion is like … well, I haven’t read enough religious texts, but a lot of it is storytelling, isn’t it? And I think, in terms of it sonically, yeah, a lot of this album has quite a lot of stacked vocals which make me think of choirs, and that’s maybe why it sounds a bit church-y, perhaps.

Paste: Did Markus do that, all that vocal multi-tracking?

Oddie: It definitely wasn’t Markus singing. I mean, I don’t want to speak for Ellie, but that’s something I can say that Ellie’s done for awhile, having known her for a long time. And that’s something that Ellie is incredibly good at, I think. And you’ve always kind of used your voice as an instrument in that regard, on other records, haven’t you? Where you’ve done loads of tracking and stuff. I don’t know—maybe it’s more apparent on this record? That you’re doing that, maybe?

Paste: So what’s your technique, Ellie? And how do you know when a song has been layered enough?

Rowsell: Well, I think just having a bit more time in the studio this time around has meant that we could put too much on it and then take some away, whereas before it was like we never quite got all our ideas down. But I think you can definitely have too much. So yeah, it was nice having the time to be like, “Oh, I’ll try another harmony!” Or “I’m gonna try another … ” whatever it was. So we were lucky in that sense.

Oddie: How do you know when you’ve had enough? Put more in. It’s kind of true, though. More is more!

Paste: What month in 2020 did you go into ICP Studios in Brussels?

Oddie: I can’t remember if it was either late January or early February—around that time. Hold on—I’ve got it here … Yeah. We went in the first week of February. And ICP Studios in Brussels is a big compound, so in this big walled compound, you have accommodations, you have … well, it’s very fancy, to be fair. We were very lucky. You’ve got accommodations, you’ve got the studios, you’ve got live-space, you’ve got a kitchen, you’ve got even a gym and a little garden. We were very spoiled, so isolating in there was not the worst that it could have been. We were very, very lucky to be where we were, just isolating.

Paste: When did you leave? And were there local stores, restaurants where you could get food?

Oddie: I can’t exactly remember when we left. I think we were there for three or four months. It was quite a long time, and we overran by a lot. And to be honest, that had nothing to do with Covid—that was just us, needing more time, I think. But yeah—everything closed. Brussels was one of the first places in the world to close, along with France, maybe. So yeah, it was locked down pretty early. And the guys had food deliveries, so a couple of times a week, there would be a shopping delivery, and that’s kind of how we’d get our food, really. And then there were takeaways and stuff, when we were feeling fancy.

Paste: Ellie, how did it affect you? And what did you go through, personally?

Rowsell: Umm, I mean … I dunno. It was quite intense, to have zero distractions from the music, but of course that had been super important to us—having no distractions. But I guess it became too important, though, and a bit intense, so it was quite hard, in that respect. We had nothing else to focus on, because there was nothing to do, really. But we were really lucky in that respect, too, because by the time we got back to London, it was summer, and it was hot, and you could meet friends in parks and stuff. So we were very, very lucky.

Paste: It seems like you’ve gotten much more introspective on this record, lyrically. “Smile,” alone, is almost like a this-is-who-I-am line drawn in the sand.

Rowsell: Well, it was written before the pandemic. But yeah, I think it’s kind of like, it just serves as a reminder to be kind to yourself. And no matter how someone else might make you feel, you are okay.

Paste: What did Wolf Alice learn about itself through all this?

Oddie: It was a weird time. And I mean, it’s kind of odd for us a little bit, because part of me kind of feels like we didn’t experience it to the same degree as other people. I think we were really lucky to be making a record in lockdown, so that had something to do with it. And we got home, and by the time we got home, things were kind of opening up again. And then the government was allowing people to do visual-audio recordings, so we shot all the music videos and did all the work for that in the winter months. And then since January, we’ve kind of been rehearsing and doing bits there because we’ve been allowed to. So we’ve been very, very lucky to be busy and to be doing stuff, really. But it was odd making an album in lockdown—it was kind of weird, kind of scary and a bit ominous. Making an album in what felt like, or what could be, the Apocalypse. Obviously, it wasn’t. But I think the thing that I learned, and that I keep on learning, throughout the years in Wolf Alice, is that adversity will only bring us—for some reason—closer together. It will only make us laugh harder, which is strange. I think we’re good, faced with a challenge, an obstacle. When things are going good, that’s when you’ve gotta watch out!

Paste: And in times of prosperity, prepare for adversity.

Oddie: Oh! Very good! I like that!

Paste: But I have to ask—where did “Play the Greatest Hits” come from? It’s punk-rock crazy!

Rowsell: I think it’s about when a party has been off for too long, you’d like to take it back a few hours, back to where it was at first, and that sentiment is kind of mirrored in the music, and where that song comes on the album. It’s like, you just never know when that night is gonna occur, really. So there’s a lot of hectic energy in that.

Paste: And you’ve now created your own set-closing “Champagne Supernova” with “Last Man on Earth.” It’s huge.

Rowsell: Well, that’s not for us to say.

Oddie: And I had fuck-all to do in it, to be honest. Apart from a couple of noodle-y guitar bits in it. But I can tell you that when I heard it, it’s probably one of the ones that changed the least from initial demo to recording. And Yeah, I think everyone knew when they heard the demo when it was sent over that it was gonna be a special one. But it was already a special one, to be honest.

Paste: It’s got all these tinkly little adornments on it.

Oddie: Yeah. And we couldn’t get them off, no matter how hard we tried. “Where are they? What are they doing? Where is that noise coming from?” I don’t know. Magic!

Paste: Ellie, in “No Hard Feelings” you say “Life can be short, but life can be sweet.” Given all that time you had to reflect, did you find yourself thinking about mortality?

Rowsell: No. No, I think I just used those words just for saying short and sweet. I dunno—I shouldn’t have said ‘life,’ because I didn’t mean that, really. I just mean that some things can be short. I didn’t mean life, so I regret saying that.

Paste: Where were you coming from on “The Beach,” then? It’s kept afloat on this choral cloud.

Rowsell: Yeah. I dunno. I really love doing that kind of call-and-response thing. And at one point, I thought, “Is this too theatrical, maybe?” But I really loved listening to it, and I loved hearing all of our voices in it. And once we’d done that and “Delicious Things,” it kind of set the bar. I was like, “Okay, we’re really gonna do this, and we’re not embarrassed to do these kinds of choral things, these theatrical, epic kinds of things.” And it just set the tone, really, for the album. And it was just fun—I love that kind of stuff.

Paste: “Safe From Heartbreak” feels like the most experimental, because it’s totally gentle and kind of makes a pillow out of Ellie’s harmonies.

Rowsell: Yeah. We were really inspired by The Roches and their song “The Humming Song.” They have that kind of dry wall of vocal harmonies, and noodling guitars and stuff. I was really inspired by that and wanted to do something similar. They’re a band of sisters, although now I think it’s just one of them and her daughter—I think one of them might have passed away.

Paste: How does starting to tour again feel? Weird? Tentative? Solid?

Oddie: Oh, God. We haven’t had the opportunity yet. We’d love to, but we’re not allowed to over here. We did this livestream event, and it was playing live to a certain extent—playing live to the cameras and the crew there, and we did a couple of things for some radio stations. So we haven’t had the pleasure yet, but we’re itching to do so.

Paste: What was your ultimate metaphorical takeaway from this whole experience?

Rowsell: I think it’s too early to say, for me, personally. I don’t really know. But I feel really proud of us. I feel like I always knew that we were all invested in Wolf Alice, but this album took a lot of work and a lot of emotion. So I feel really like … proud of us, really, that we put so much of ourselves into this record, to get it right. Like, every tiny detail was really, really turned over and thought about. It was quite … I dunno what I’m trying to say …

Paste: Is it true that your Mercury Prize is actually still on display at your local, The Hawley Arms, behind the crisps?

Oddie: It is. Yes, it is.

Paste: But it’s kinda cool—you’ve never really left where you came from.

Oddie: Heh-heh. And we’ll never be asked to go back!

Paste: The ultimate lesson here is, on this record, you’ve finally defined the Wolf Alice sound, by proving that it’s undefinable—it can include anything. Does that make sense?

Oddie: Yeah, kind of. I somewhat kind of take issue with that, a little bit, but it’s all stuff that lives kind of under the kind of alternative rock and pop umbrella, I think. I mean, it’s not like we’re doing straightforward rock music and then doing an experimental jazz piece—they all kind of live within a world.

Rowsell: I kind of agree. And I think that we put in quite a lot of effort to make sure that this album flowed, and there were songs that I really loved that didn’t make it on there, because we didn’t want it to sound like, “Oh, where did that come from? And where did that come from?” So I don’t think it sounds like that. And for me, more than ever before, this album needs to be listened to from top to bottom, because each twist and turn serves whatever comes before or after it. So maybe each song sounds a bit different, but to me, I’m really proud of how it sounds like … like … I dunno—an album .

Paste: Hats off to you for another thing—with your private mailing list, you really keep people informed, and excited about, what’s happening in your camp.

Rowsell: Yeah! Well, I mean, this is super-exciting for us. And we don’t release music all the time, but it’s just a really big time for us, and we are excited, and eager to network. We’ve missed playing, and we’ve missed meeting all the fans, and just people who like music. It’s just been sad, so any way that we can keep connected is good for us.

Oddie: And it’s important, I think. Important to keep that level of enthusiasm up.

Listen to Wolf Alice’s 2014 Daytrotter session below.

blue weekend

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Wolf Alice: Blue Weekend review – massive ambitions exceptionally fulfilled

(Dirty Hit) On their third and best album, the London four-piece embrace a more polished, widescreen sound that serves their sharp writing on late-20s anxieties

T here’s a very striking line midway through the fourth track on Wolf Alice ’s third album, a pointed burst of righteous anger called Smile: “I am what I am and I’m good at it,” shouts Ellie Rowsell, “and you don’t like me, well that isn’t fucking relevant.”

This is swaggering stuff, particularly from someone whose public image, as Smile points out, is that of a sensitive artist, a wary interviewee . Then again, perhaps Wolf Alice have the right to swagger. Two Top 5 albums, a Mercury prize and a Grammy nomination into their career, they have come a long way in a climate where what would once have been called “indie” music is supposed to struggle.

On the face of it, they seem like a very 2020s kind of band, built for a pop world in which relatability and mild aspiration is more important than glamour and the selling of dreams. For all the attention from Vogue – “ Here’s How An It Brit Does Glastonbury Style ” – Rowsell seems noticeably more “older sister’s famously cool mate” than “rock star blessed with otherworldly charisma”. Her lyrics tend to deal in the everyday frustrations of twentysomething life; whether in character or not, it comes as a mild shock to hear her singing about accepting any drugs she’s offered in Los Angeles on Blue Weekend’s Delicious Things.

Nor are they a band who have bought into time-honoured rock mythology suggesting a life more glamorous, weird, transgressive and exciting than your own. The 2017 tour documentary On the Road made being in Wolf Alice look like a job, a monotonous, gruelling round of faintly underwhelming experiences that director Michael Winterbottom compared to “a horrific form of camping” . Equally, their most obvious musical references points – shoegazing and grunge, a touch of Elastica about their punkier moments – largely date from the early 90s. Their influences are deftly applied, but audible enough to attract an audience who recall this stuff first time around. There’s something there for the 16-year-olds and the BBC Radio 6 Music listeners who remember when the O2 Forum was called the Town and Country Club.

It’s a recipe for a certain level of success, but Blue Weekend is fairly obviously a lunge for something bigger. The producer’s chair is occupied by Markus Dravs, whose CV – Coldplay, Arcade Fire, Florence + the Machine – suggests that he’s very much the kind of guy you phone if you find your ambitions extending a little further than your present status. It’s a move compounded by circumstance: trapped in a residential recording studio by the Covid pandemic, the band opted to spend their time polishing an album they had previously thought was virtually finished.

The move for something bigger can be the moment when artists falter, where a glaring discrepancy between ambition and ability is revealed, or a desire to perform on a bigger stage swamps the essence of what made people like you in the first place. But, as it turns out, boldness suits Wolf Alice better than you might expect. Listening to Blue Weekend, you’re struck by an appealing sense of everything clicking into place. The sound is more polished and widescreen – the heave and echo of the effects-laden guitars on Feeling Myself conjure an alternative universe in which Slowdive had played stadiums; the punky blast of Play the Greatest Hits thunders along; The Last Man on Earth swells from piano ballad into something epic – but the songs are strong enough to support it, better written than anything on Wolf Alice’s previous albums. Never hollow, the choruses soar, as on Delicious Things and How Can I Make It OK?; the words are sharp and occasionally witty: “He’s had so many lovers / But he’s not pleasing anyone,” Rowsell sings on the narcotic Feeling Myself.

Even the acoustic, ostensibly lightweight Safe from Heartbreak (If You Never Fall in Love) packs an Abba-esque lilt to its melody and harmonised vocals. Despite the litany of late-20s worries in the lyrics – friendships floundering as priorities shift (The Beach); the continued allure of hedonism battling the sneaking suspicion it’s not providing the escape it once did (Delicious Things); the desire to keep romantic relationships going despite their evident failings (“I take you back, I know it seems surprising,” shrugs Lipstick on the Glass) – Rowsell’s vocals feel assured, confidently shifting from whispered intimacy to full-throated, arena-rousing, yowling anger, to cut-glass iciness.

Without wishing to heap on unreasonable expectations, it has the distinct tang of an album that could be huge. There’s something undeniable about it, the beguiling sound of a band doing what they do exceptionally well, so that even the most devoted naysayer might be forced to understand its success. The kind of swagger you hear in the lyrics of Smile – and indeed throughout Blue Weekend – seems more understandable than ever.

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Christone ‘Kingfish’ Ingram: 662 The award-laden 22-year-old blues prodigy previews his forthcoming second album: raw, funky, thrillingly rocking.

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By Topher Parks

You know you’re getting older when you’re excited about a concert ending by 10 o’clock. This may have been the first thing that stood out to me about the Blue Weekend Tour with Wolf Alice and Charlie Hickey when I saw it in the basement of Indianapolis’ Old National Centre a couple of weeks ago, but don’t let the early start and finish times fool you. There was still lots of fun to be had on this Tuesday night, even if it was different from the last time I saw them play this very room six years prior (almost to the date).

While I did experience a few déjà vu moments that evening, one aspect markedly different was the pop rockers’ opening act. This time around saw Wolf Alice’s support come from Los Angeles-based indie pop singer Charlie Hickey, a stark contrast from the raucous UK punk duo Slaves who opened up for them the last time around. Instead, Hickey’s soft-spoken nature and cheeky comments were the driving force at center stage. His minimal yet tight band of three brought the vibes, touching on many of the tunes from his 2021 debut EP Count The Stairs , including the simplistic yet attention-grabbing set opener “No Good At Lying” and the subtly groovy “Ten Feet Tall.”

Hickey is a childhood friend of Phoebe Bridgers and the newest signee to her Dead Oceans label imprint Saddest Factory, so it’s no surprise that a few of his songs channeled Bridgers’ vibes, including on EP cut “Seeing Things.” All throughout Hickey’s set, there was this sort of ethereal nature to it, which was especially the case when his drummer briefly left the stage for “Notre Dame” before coming back on for the set’s closer. Hickey and company performed two songs from his forthcoming full-length debut, including the echo-y single “Dandelions,” released that very night just a few hours later, in addition to the album’s title track “Nervous At Night,” which served as the band’s final number up on stage. It was a brief yet cool performance which prefaced Wolf Alice rather well.

By the time Wolf Alice hit the stage, it was right around 8:30, which felt early for a headliner, but again, I was certainly not going to complain. They played through the majority of Blue Weekend , their newest full-length which, like Hickey’s debut EP, also released last summer. In fact, after doing a little digging I later found out that both albums actually came out on the same day in June of last year. The London-based quartet, joined by a fifth member to help round out their sound, kicked off their set with a roaring rendition of the album’s second single “Smile” and never looked back. The alternative rockers led by powerhouse frontwoman Ellie Rowsell played a mix bang of songs from each of their three full-length albums, obviously showcasing their most recent effort, while still ensuring to play several cuts from both their 2015 debut and 2017’s Visions of a Life .

Although the band rocked the Deluxe room the last time I saw them six years ago, it felt like they had really leveled up since then. I remembered the loud rock sound which many of their most popular songs embody, but I did not recall how varied they sounded. There was this stellar control to Rowsell’s voice that allowed for frequent dynamic contrasts, sometimes even within the same song, as was the case all throughout their set but specifically on “Delicious Things” and “Lipstick on the Glass.” I’m sure this was probably the case the last time I saw them too, but there’s no way it was this extreme because if it had been, I feel like I definitely would have remembered.

Either way, it seems as if we were dealing with an improved, refined version of Wolf Alice. Don’t get me wrong, there were still moments of raw intensity interspersed throughout their set (“Play the Greatest Hits”), but it appears to me that they have found the perfect balance and leveraged that for their own benefit, resulting in a better-rounded sound overall. One thing I would have loved to see was “No Hard Feelings” with that guitar riff as it’s played on Blue Weekend , but Rowsell decided to instead use this moment near the end of their set as the perfect opportunity for the majority of the band to take a breather, even if it was a relatively brief one. They capped off the evening with a two-song encore, before leaving the stage for good by 9:45. While it may have been an early exit, the five found a way to pack in a full 17-track set before then, and as a result, no one in the audience walked away afterwards wondering if they’d gotten their money’s worth.

Follow Wolf Alice and Charlie Hickey on Instagram.    

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Blue Weekend (Tour Deluxe)

16 SONGS • 59 MINUTES • JUN 04 2021

• TRACKS TRACKS
• DETAILS DETAILS

With their distinctive blend of vintage '90s indie rock, folk, electronic, and dream pop, Wolf Alice are one of the most eclectic bands of the 2010s and 2020s. They're also one of the most acclaimed: The North London group's 2015 debut album My Love Is Cool -- which highlighted the delicacy and ferocity of Ellie Rowsell's vocals and lyrics -- counted Grammy Award and Mercury Prize nominations among its many accolades. The band won the Mercury Prize for 2017's Visions of a Life, an album that added more elements, as well as more polish, to their music. With 2021's anthemic yet atmospheric Blue Weekend, Wolf Alice's ambitions and horizons continued to grow, garnering them a third consecutive Mercury Prize nomination and winning them the 2022 Brit Award for Group of the Year.

Wolf Alice formed in 2010, when singer/songwriter Ellie Rowsell and guitarist Joff Oddie began playing as an acoustic duo and took their name from a short story by Angela Carter. After issuing a self-titled EP, the group expanded into a quartet with the addition of drummer Joel Amey and bassist Theo Ellis. This fleshed-out, electrified incarnation of the band released their debut single "Fluffy" in February 2013 on the Chess Club label, with "Bros" following in May. Wolf Alice's official debut EP, Blush, appeared that October and garnered positive reviews, with some critics comparing the group to Elastica, Garbage, the Duke Spirit, and Pixies. The following year, they signed to Dirty Hit and issued their second EP Creature Songs in May.

A pair of singles, "Giant Peach" and a reworked version of "Bros," preceded Wolf Alice's June 2015 debut album My Love Is Cool. Recorded in London's Livingston Recording Studios with producer Mike Crossley, the album debuted at number two on the U.K. Albums Chart, was certified gold in the band's homeland, and was nominated for the Mercury Prize as well as for Brit and Ivor Novello awards. In the U.S., it peaked at number 12 on the Billboard Alternative Albums chart and spawned a hit in "Moaning Lisa Smile," which reached number nine on Billboard's Alternative Songs chart and earned a nomination for Best Rock Performance at the 2016 Grammy Awards. Wolf Alice capped off these successes with a lengthy tour in support of My Love Is Cool that filmmaker Michael Winterbottom captured in October 2016's semi-fictional film On the Road. That year, the album was also issued as a limited-edition box set that included rarities and demos as well as the Blush and Creature Songs EPs.

Also in 2016, Wolf Alice contributed the song "Ghoster" to the Ghostbusters soundtrack in 2016 and began work on their second album. Written in London and recorded in Los Angeles with producer Justin Meldal-Johnsen, September 2017's Visions of a Life expanded on My Love Is Cool's ambitions, adding psychedelia, dream pop, grunge, synth pop, and other styles to the band's repertoire. Featuring the singles "Yuk Foo" and "Don't Delete the Kisses," the album was a commercial and critical success, debuting at number two on the U.K. Albums Chart and winning the 2018 Mercury Prize.

Wolf Alice embarked on another extensive world tour, then took a brief hiatus to regroup before making their third album. The group took their time to hone their songs and spent extra months during the COVID-19 pandemic refining their music in a Belgian studio with producer Markus Dravs. Arriving in June 2021, the resulting Blue Weekend gave Wolf Alice's sound a stadium-sized sweep and topped the U.K. albums chart. It also garnered the group their third consecutive Merurcy Prize nomination for Album of the Year. In Febuary 2022, Wolf Alice took home the Brit Award for Group of the Year. That May, they also released a companion EP, Blue Lullaby, which featured lullaby versions of several songs off Blue Weekend. A month later, they performed at Glastonbury Festival. ~ Heather Phares & James Christopher Monger

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Blue Weekend

Track Listing

Delicious Things 

Lipstick on the Glass 

Safe from Heartbreak (If You Never Fall in Love) 

How Can I Make It OK?

Play the Greatest Hits 

Feeling Myself

The Last Man On Earth

No Hard Feelings

The Beach II

Come with me on my travels, as you plan yours

A Moscow Free Walking Tour of the Iconic Red Square

Updated March 10th, 2020

This post might contain affiliate links. That means I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you, if you buy through my site. I appreciate your support of my site.

No visit to Moscow, Russia is complete unless you take a walk around the famous Red Square and see the iconic sights of the city. One of the best ways to see all the famous landmarks in Moscow and learn a little something about them too is on a free Moscow walking tour through the Red Square.

Continue reading for a sneak peek at what you will see on your free tour in Moscow and for tips on both the tour and visiting the sights. Make sure to save some time during your trip to go inside of the magnificent buildings because you will not be going in the buildings during the tour.

The State Historical Museum

The Moscow free walking tour begins at the Marshal Zhukov monument in front of the State Historical Museum . You can’t miss this massive red building. The museum’s interior is almost as spectacular as the artifacts you can see within. Read my post dedicated to the museum here to find out more on what you can see and tips for visiting. Admission is free with the Moscow City Pass .

The Kremlin

Behind the walls of the Kremlin lie the working offices of Russian’s government and president. When visiting the Kremlin you can see the Armory Chamber, Cathedral Square, the Patriach’s Palace and many more cathedrals. You definitely want to buy tickets ahead of time so you avoid the long-lines. You can get free admission with the Moscow City Pass . It’s also worth it to take a guided tour if you don’t speak Russian so you have more of an understanding of what you are seeing.

St. Basil’s Cathedral

If asked to conquer up an image of Moscow, St. Basil’s Cathedral might just be the most likely image you picture. The cathedral has a museum that you can visit at a later time. You can buy tickets at the ticket kiosk outside the cathedral or receive free admission with the Moscow City Pass .

Moskva River

Next up on the tour is the Moskva River which runs through the center of Moscow. A cruise on the Moskva River is a great way to see the city from a different perspective.

GUM Shopping Mall

Who would think a mall would be one of Moscow’s most well-known attractions? GUM shopping mall across from the Kremlin makes up one of the four sides of the Red Square. The stores might be a bit too pricey for shopping, but the gorgeous interior is worth a visit. If that doesn’t convince you, the mall has some of the best ice cream! GUM is the only building you go inside during the free walking tour. There are pay bathrooms you can use while you have a few minutes of free time.

Kazan Cathedral

Located on the northeast corner of the Red Square, the Kazan Cathedral is another impressive dome-shaped building in Moscow that is also an active place of worship. Entering the cathedral is allowed, but remember to be respectful if people are worshipping.

Bolshoi Theater

Contrary to the previous buildings, the Bolshoi Theater isn’t along one of the four sides of the Red Square. Located a few minutes away, the theater is one of the best theaters in the world. Make sure to come back for a guided tour of the inside or make reservations far ahead of time to attend a ballet or opera.

Alexander Gardens

The tour ends near the Alexander Gardens , a free public park located along the western Kremlin walls. The garden’s green lawns, sculptures and water fountains offer a nice place to take a stroll or relax a bit after some busy sightseeing.

You can visit all these sites on your own, but the best part of doing the Moscow free tour is that you learn more information and have the potential to meet new people!

During my tour I started to talk to a woman from Malaysia and she invited me to join her and her friends for a Russian meal afterwards. It’s these little impromptu meetings and opportunities that I love most about traveling and add more to the sightseeing experience. While I was a little hesitant about going to the tour myself I told myself it would be a great opportunity to possibly meet new people. I love when things work out like that!

If you have already seen the iconic sights of the Red Square and are looking for other things to do in Moscow check out my What to Do in Moscow post that gives more off-the beaten track things to do in Moscow!

Moscow Free Walking Tour Visiting Information

Moscow Free Walking Tours

How to Get There

The Moscow Free Walking Tour begins at the Marshal Zhukov monument in front of the State Historical Museum (a large red building). The website shows a map with the exact meeting point.

To get to the red square area you can take the blue 3 metro line to the Ploshchad Revolyutsii stop, or the green 2 line to the Teatralnaya station or the red 1 line to the Okhotny Ryad station. For more on how to use the metro read my Moscow Metro Guide .

Tours every day at 10:30am – 1pm in English

If you need a toilet before the start of the tour the Okhotny Ryad and GUM shopping malls are both close to the start of the tour. You will need to pay to use the toilets. There is a quick break mid-way through the tour at the GUM shopping mall where you can use the toilet if needed.

During the mid-way break in the tour you can buy some ice cream at the GUM shopping mall. There aren’t many other options or time for anything else. After the tour there are a lot of restaurants in the area. There are a couple of Varenichnaya №1 locations nearby if you would like some authentic Russian food. Their speciality is Russian dumplings. Another classic choice nearby is Grand Cafe Dr. Jhivago. While you can try traditional Russian foods like borscht and Olivier Salad, you may need a reservation. GUM has several restaurants, including a couple of buffets upstairs.

Recommendations

While I would start off your visit to Moscow with a tour of the Red Square, make sure to come back to each place to tour the inside. If you are visiting several sights consider buying the Moscow City Pass  to save money on admissions.

Other Tour Options

Another company  Moscow Free Tour  does a similar free walking tour in the Red Square. Check the site for the details on the starting point and times. If you prefer a private paid tour with a hotel pick-up and a visit to St. Basil’s Cathedral included check out this tour . For a private paid tour with a hotel pick-up and a visit to the Kremlin included you may want to take this tour or this one . Even if you don’t typically take tours, I would recommend taking tours as much as possible in Moscow. Many people do not speak English and most information is not in English either.

Where to Stay in Moscow

Find somewhere to stay in Moscow near the Red Square so you are convenient to all the sights!

More About Russia

• Moscow Things to Do:  Unique Things to Do ,   Spartak Stadium
• Moscow Markets:  Izmailovsky Market ,   Danilovsky Market
• Moscow Museums:  Moscow City Museum ,  Victory Museum ,  Museum of the Patriotic War in 1812 ,  State Historical Museum ,
• Moscow Life:  Malls ,  Christmas in Moscow ,  Metro ,  Learning Spanish ,  My Russian Apartment ,   What is Life Really Like in Russia ,  FiFa World Cup ,  Russian Winters , and more posts about  life abroad in Russia .
• St Petersburg:  City Guide ,  The Hermitage Museum ,  Kayaking the Rivers & Canals ,   Peterhof Palace

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22 comments.

The Kremlin looks rather imposing. It would be great to explore the history in Moscow.

There is a lot of history in Moscow to explore!

What a handy guide to get the most of Moscow’s red square! I’ve always wanted to try a walking tour and this looks like the perfect place to start!

I really enjoy walking tours, I think they are a great way to get to know a new place!

You have highlighted all the main sights around and in the Red Square indeed! I have visited Moscow in winter and the atmosphere was magical…even though it was cold 🙂 I’m looking forward to visiting in summer too!

Yes, there is a magical feel during the winter. I have to say I prefer the warmer, brighter summers though 🙂

Follow My Anchor

I am planning to go to Moscow and St. Petersburg this year so reading this was very helpful. I would love to do the walking tour! What time of year did you do it? I am planning to go in August as I really can’t stand the cold 😀 Do you think August might be a good time to visit Moscow? Thank you so much for your information!

I did the walking tour in September. July and August are the best times to visit Moscow in my opinion, so you are going at a great time! I lived in Moscow for a year so I have a lot of posts about Moscow and a couple for St. Petersburg too. Please check out my other posts as you are planning your trip and feel free to send any questions my way!

I’m a huge fan of taking free walking tours whenever my husband and I travel. We learn more about the history from the local’s perspective. Your walking tour in Moscow looks fun. The St. Basil’s Cathedral is beautiful and would love to see it. Thanks for sharing the must-see places in Moscow!

I’m a big fan of free walking tours too! I completely agree that you get a good perspective and introduction to the history of the city.

I would love to take the walking tour to get a good coverage of the area! The tip about paying for the bathrooms is great. That’s something I didn’t realize when I went to Europe for the first time from the US.

I always find it annoying paying for bathrooms in Europe!

I visited Moscow in June this year for the World Cup and I loved it. St. Basil’s Cathedral was the highlight for me, it’s such an impressive piece of architecture. I would’ve liked to visit more of Russia but maybe next time!

I really enjoyed Moscow during the World Cup too. The city was much livelier than usual!

I have been to St. Petersburg but never to Moscow. I think that these kind of tours are very useful to gather many information but I second your suggestion to visit the palaces inside as they have stunning interior decor and art treasures.

Yes, I think both going on tours and getting an overview and touring the inside of places are good to do.

Shreya Saha

St. Basil’s cathedral is definitely a beautiful place to visit. I would also love to stroll by the Alexander gardens and maybe spend some time in the shopping mall call mom maybe visit the theater, also I would love to visit Kremlin and the State Historical Museum. That’s a great list you have managed to provide here.

Never been to Russia, but the country’s history and culture has always fascinated me. Great list of things to do in Moscow’s Red Square. Kremlin is definitely on top of my list!

Russia does have a fascinating history and culture!

The architecture here always looks so beautiful. I would love to go to Russia. Some helpful tips here that would really help me navigate a future trip. I love the Russian ballet so a trip to the theater would be a must for me.

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Your 48-hour tour guide of Moscow this winter!

9 am – Visit the Red Square 

Christmas market on Red Square

The first thing that every tourist should do by default is visit the very heart of Moscow – it’s main and most beautiful (which ‘krasnaya’ actually meant in Old Russian) square! 

There are several ways to explore it:

• Take a selfie with Spasskaya Tower
• Have a warm drink at the Christmas market (which lasts until mid-January)
• Visit Lenin’s Mausoleum
• Shop in the gorgeous adjacent GUM department store
• Visit St. Basil’s Cathedral (and learn that it’s actually several churches under one roof).           

11 am – It’s Kremlin time! 

Inside the Moscow Kremlin

Entering the Kremlin is, actually, a bit of a quest, as it’s a presidential facility with no general access. You need to buy a ticket or, better still, book a guided tour. Inside the Kremlin’s walls, you will find ancient cathedrals, in which Russian tsars used to be crowned and buried, as well as explore the magnificent architecture of the Kremlin that reflects the rich history of the country. And, finally, you could also make a quick visit to the Moscow Kremlin Museums and admire artifacts from various Russian tsarist eras: carriages, thrones, crowns and the most incredible armory and jewelry. 

For more information, visit the official website of the Kremlin . It’s open from 10 am to 5 pm (and it’s closed on Thursdays) in winter.

2 pm – Watch the changing of the Guard

The honor guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

A very spectacular (and free) thing to do is watch how the honor guard does their ceremonial change at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and the Eternal Flame, situated in Alexander Garden, right next to the Kremlin wall. Every hour, from 8 am to 8 pm, the 1st Company of the Kremlin (Presidential) Regiment performs this rather old and beautiful tradition. But, be warned, it's often overcrowded. 

3 pm – Enjoy a green oasis just in the center

Florarium in Zaryadye

Just a few steps from the Red Square, you will find the fabulous Zaryadye park. Opened in 2017, it is designed by renowned American architect bureau ‘Diller Scofidio + Renfro’. You can walk among the very cozy botanical decorations and explore Russia’s climate zones, as each of them is represented in dedicated areas, complete with flora from those zones.

The floating bridge in Zaryadye Park

The park also has an underground museum, an “ice cave” and a 3D cinema, where you can take part in a virtual adventure – a flight over Moscow! However, the piece de resistance is a floating boomerang bridge over the Moskva River, one of the best places to take a selfie.

You can also grab a quick lunch or relax with a cup of coffee or tea in the park.

7 pm – Arrange a ballet night

The Bolshoi Theater

Of course, the most fancy way to finish your day in Moscow would be to go to the ballet at the Bolshoi Theater (in a perfect world, to see ‘The Nutcracker’!). However, getting tickets to the Bolshoi is not an easy task and should be done well in advance of your visit. 

But, don’t be upset if you don’t manage to get tickets to the Bolshoi. Moscow has dozens of other options to see a ballet (or opera). No less brilliant performances can be seen in the Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Music Theater or in The State Kremlin Palace (by the way, this is another way to get a quick glimpse inside the Kremlin!).

10:30 pm – Have a late dinner in a fancy restaurant

Dr Zhivago restaurant

There are not so many other cities with such a big choice of restaurants in a range of tastes and styles. In 2021, the authoritative Michelin guide announced their pick of the best of Moscow’s restaurants. And here’s our guide to all the places with Russian cuisine for any budget. But, if you happen to be in the area of the Bolshoi or Nemirovich-Danchenko Theater, then ‘Dr. Zhivago’ would definitely be a nice option (and it’s open around the clock).

DAY 2 

9 am – grab a moscow coffee.

Winter festivities mood in Moscow

Moscow is definitely a coffee city! You can find coffee shops on every corner and they all offer a huge range of drinks. Try a ‘raf’ coffee, a sweet, creamy drink that was created in Russia, or dare to pick one of the very unusual offers, like cheese coffee or a Soviet candy style one (check out our coffee guide here ).

10 am – Take a river cruise

Winter boating along the Moskva River

Another exciting way to explore Moscow is to observe it from the water. Boats cruise along the Moskva River all year round. Most begin their route from the Hotel Ukraine, one of Stalin's ‘Seven Sister’ skyscrapers, and will bring you back to the same spot after passing the medieval Novodevichy Convent, Moscow State University and Luzhniki Stadium, the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour and giant monument to Peter the Great and many other sightseeings. 

It’s always at optimum temperature inside the boat, which also has huge panoramic windows. Select boats also offer a full dining experience, so it is also a nice place to have breakfast or lunch.

If you are not a water person, then discover other, unusual sides of Moscow – pick one of the activities we’ve prepared for you here ! 

1 pm – Visit ‘Russia’ Expo and taste a bunch of Russian regional cuisines

Russia Expo at VDNKh

Until April 2024, the Soviet-era VDNKh exhibition park is hosting the huge ‘Russia’ expo, with tons of activities and expositions devoted to Russia, its culture, science and nature. Check out our special guide on what to do there!  

An entire ‘House of Russian Cuisine’ has been opened at the expo. You will find 15 food stands with flagship dishes from Kamchatka, Siberia, Karelia and other regions of Russia. Imagine trying a range of cuisines and dishes in one place without even having to travel anywhere, be it Altai pelmeni, Tula kalach or Caucasian pies! A perfect place to grab some lunch.

House of Russian cuisines at VDNKh

The VDNKh exhibition park is a great place to visit, in general! Its pavilions are the perfect example of Stalinit Empire style architecture and you can almost feel as if you’ve traveled back in time! You will also find several interesting museums in the park – devoted to space exploration, Russian history and even a ‘Special Purpose Garage’, which showcases the various vehicles used by the country’s leaders. 

'Sun of Moscow' wheel

And, finally, you can ride Europe's tallest panoramic wheel – ‘Sun of Moscow’ – that will give you panoramic views of the city – from a height of 140 meters!

5 pm – Ice skate with view & mulled wine

Ice skating rink on Red Square (GUM department store on the background)

Ice skating is one of the most popular and affordable activities in Moscow. There are several great ice skating rinks in picturesque locations that are open all winter long. One of the biggest rinks in Europe is also at the aforementioned VDNKh or you can visit the one in Gorky Park, another very popular Moscow spot, or the small, but fancy rink – right on Red Square! 

All the parks offer ice skate rental, so the only things you need are warm clothes, a charged phone to record your memories and a good mood!  Moscow also gets dark at 4:30 pm in winter and hundreds of lights are switched on, turning the city into a giant fairy tale! 

A mulled wine with a view

And, if you are not a sports person, we’ve picked several other unusual activities that you could do in Moscow instead. For example, did you know that there is an entire district of dacha (countryside) houses, just 10 minutes from the center, surrounded by giant new highrises? How about taking a stroll there and feeling the early Soviet atmosphere?

8 pm – Warm up & laugh out loud

After all these outdoor activities, what could be better than a warm cozy bar with a hot drink and nice company? Moscow is a city full of entertainment for all tastes. So, if you know the Russian language or want to practice it, go to a theater or catch a stand-up comedy show. Moscow even has comedy shows in English, where you can hear both Russians speaking fluent English or foreigners (including Brits and Americans) who live in Russia speaking in broken or heavily-accented Russian (Check their show dates on the ‘ Moscow English Comedy ’ Telegram channel)!

11 pm – Finish by partying the night away!

Propaganda club in Moscow

Moscow never sleeps, as you might have heard. Which means there are plenty of bars and nightclubs where you can have a drink (or two or three; be sure to check out how Russians make Black Russian and White Russian cocktails) and chat with incredibly different people. Have fun and don’t miss your flight (or miss it and stay longer in the best city in the world!)!

That's it! See you soon in Moscow

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How to spend a perfect weekend in Moscow

Feb 11, 2020 • 5 min read

Moscow enjoyed the status of capital for most of Russia’s history, except for a relatively brief period (about two hundred years), when the Tsar and the government relocated to St Petersburg . But the Bolsheviks moved the capital back to Moscow in 1918, and today it’s an extremely diverse city. It can easily take a couple of weeks to see all of its sights, but if you've only got a weekend to explore, here's how to have two perfect days in Moscow.

Start your weekend in Moscow by acquainting yourself with top-notch Russian cuisine at Grand Cafe Dr Zhivago . Located on the first floor of the historical hotel National and overlooking the Kremlin, it’s definitely one of the best breakfast spots in the city. Try millet porridge with crawfish, pearl barley porridge with oxtail or traditional cottage cheese with raisins and candied fruit.

Set aside at least half a day for Russian capital’s major attractions: the Red Square and the Kremlin . To reach the Kremlin, cross the street from Dr Zhivago and walk through the Alexander Garden to the main entrance at the Kutafya Tower . Check out all the cathedrals, including Archangel cathedral with all the tsars’ tombs and Uspensky cathedral with medieval icons. Pause to look at the famous Tsar Bell and climb Ivan the Great Bell Tower to enjoy some great views.

Exit and walk to the Red Square through the Alexander Garden, where, if lucky, you can see the change of guard. If you’re feeling hungry, stop by the food court at Okhotny Ryad shopping complex to pick up a snack.

The Red square is dominated by four buildings of equal historical importance: the Kremlin's most famous Spasskaya (Saviour) Tower , with a clock and fourteen bells that chime national anthem four times a day (6am, noon, 6pm, midnight), St Basil's Cathedral , Moscow's best-known symbol with its multi-colored domes, Lenin’s Mausoleum , the resting place of the leader of the 1917 October revolution, and GUM , Moscow's oldest department store, topped with a glass roof, designed by one of Russia's most celebrated architects, Vladimir Shukhov. 

A guide to shopping in Moscow

Right behind the St Basil’s it is the relatively new Zaryadye Park , designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro, famous for its work on the High Line in New York City. Zaryadye showcases flora from all the climate zones of Russia, which is the largest country in the world. The floating bridge at the edge of the park is one of the biggest selfie magnets in Moscow, providing spectacular views of the river and the city skyline as the background. 

Another Zaryadye attraction is a glass pavilion that hosts restaurant Voskhod  (Sunrise) – a perfect spot for your lunch or early dinner. Voskhod focuses on dishes from all fifteen former Soviet Union republics and its inside looks like a Soviet-made spaceship with great views of the Moscow river. Try Azeri home-made pasta or trout from Lake Sevan in Armenia.

After all that walking and exploring you need some quality downtime and what better way to spend it than relaxing for a couple of hours at the famous Sanduny  traditional Russian hot bath. Make sure to get a massage with birch sticks!

You might still have time to go to Winzavod Center – a creative cluster with galleries housed at a former wine factory. Galleries like XL , pop/off/art and Ovcharenko always have something on, most likely a cutting-edge Russian contemporary art exhibition. Finish the evening hanging out at one of the best Moscow bars – try socialites’ paradise Noor Electro , co-joined with one of Moscow’s avant-garde theatres or Powerhouse Moscow , located in a 19th-century mansion, which is famous for live indie and jazz band performances. Both serve great food, too. 

Power up for a busy day ahead at one of Moscow’s trendiest coffee/breakfast spots,   Nude . Located in the upscale, well-heeled neighborhood of Patriarch’s Ponds, Nude offers a wide range of breakfast dishes, including scrambled eggs, toast, porridge and banana bread. Book ahead as it might be busy on a weekend morning.

After checking out the Patriarch's Ponds, which features prominently in Mikhail Bulgakov’s perennial novel The Master and Margarita , devote the rest of the morning and early afternoon to exploring Moscow’s best museums. Depending on your tastes, pick one of the following: Tretyakov Gallery for traditional Russian art, from medieval icons to the early 20th century;  New Tretyakov for 20th century and contemporary art as well as great temporary exhibitions;  Pushkin Museum for one of the greatest collections of Impressionist and post-Impressionist art in the world; and the Garage Museum for some eye-opening modern-art exhibitions. 

Whichever museum or gallery you choose, be sure to go to LavkaLavka for lunch, certainly one of the best places to try new Russian cuisine, which is a contemporary reading of centuries-old recipes. It’s one of the few places to try polugar , which is, allegedly, what Russians called vodka in the 19th century. 

When you talk about Russian culture, literary giants usually pop into mind: the likes of Leo Tolstoy, Fyodor Dostoevsky and Anton Chekhov. There are plenty of literary museums in Moscow, but if you had to pick one, visit Tolstoy Estate Museum , located just opposite the headquarters of Yandex, the Russian equivalent of Google. Every little detail has been restored just the way it looked when Tolstoy lived here in the 1880s–90s. 

Leave some time for exploring the Moscow Metro : every station is an architectural masterpiece in its own right. Our favorites include Mayakovskaya, Komsomolskaya and Kievskaya. Later, unwind at one of dozens of Moscow’s craft beer places . Try  Jawsspot , named after one of the leading breweries in Russia, Jaws from the Urals region, which also serves decent pizza and salads.  

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