WOLF ALICE DELIVER MAMMOTH CAREER-SPANNING HOMETOWN SHOW AT FINSBURY PARK

LIVE REVIEW | WOLF ALICE w/ The Last Dinner Party, Lykke Li, Rachel Chinouriri, Keo, Florence Road | FINSBURY PARK, LONDON 5th July 2026 by Morris Shamah

According to Wikipedia, Wolf Alice played their first gig at in December 2010 at the Highbury Garage, a legendary 600-capacity North London venue just one Tube stop and 49,400 people away from last week’s Finsbury Park headline show. In a demi-festival setting, Wolf Alice delivered a full headline adventure covering their entire career, complete with deep cuts and new favourites, mosh pits and tears.

The six-band bill started early, with doors opening at noon. Irish quartet Florence Road came on first. Their cross between indie rock and grunge-pop sensibilities matched perfectly in the sunshine. The field was still mostly empty, but the crowd was still energised. They were quickly followed by Keo, relative newcomers who’s debut album is due out this fall. Keo brought a punk energy to the stage, each band member frantically energetic, but at this point the crowd was struggling in the sunshine and mostly finding shade. For the front section, however, it a bit of an all-ages punk matinee show.

By the time Rachel Chinouriri started her set, the majority of the venue was filled. Chinouriri rose to the occasion, prancing and dancing all over the central catwalk, working the crowd and the summer day with a bubblegum joy. Chinouriri also came in with the first ballad of the day, a tender rendition of ‘All I Ever Asked.’

For an all day single stage show, it was impeccably curated, with the exception of Lykke Li. The Swedish singer-songwriter came out strong and delivered her material like only she can, but her moody, slow, ethereal vibe was a disconnect for most of the now-filled festival field. Until the finale of ‘I Follow Rivers,‘ most of the audience was using her set as a breather. A shame, as Li’s performance would have been perfect for a dark club, but also a unintentional necessary rest from the unrelenting sun and heat.

The Last Dinner Party, the final opener, did not come to play. They delivered a headline-worthy set, a tour de force, a show deserving not only of an encore, but of the stage itself. Only ten songs, but all killer no filler, The Last Dinner Party’s set packed in a full show’s worth of catharsis, dancing, sing-alongs, and joy. Frontwoman Abigail Morris had the entire crowd eating from her decorated hands, all the way to the very back of the 50,000 capacity field.

They prowled and pranced through their new hits like ‘Second Best,’ and ‘The Feminine Urge,’ extended ‘This Is The Killer Speaking’ with an additional coda and an absolutely over-the-top camp dance lesson in which Morris took on a… let’s call it “country-western” accent, for no apparent reason. By the time they closed with their first, and still, for now, biggest hit, ‘Nothing Matters,’ the entire audience was fully and completely engaged. Look for them topping these bills in the very near future.

After a 50 minute break, the stage was transformed to their now-signature The Clearing era tinsel-foil-curtain backdrop, and Wolf Alice came out to a burst of confetti and the sound of a million screams. They start with ‘Bloom Baby Bloom’ immediately the show changes, from a multi-band fest to a Wolf Alice gig.

They play 22 songs in just over 90 minutes. If there’s one criticism to be had, its that both the band and the excellent crowd deserved more time. They play those 90 minutes like it’s the last – or first – gig of their lives, fueled by a hometown fire the likes of which are usually reserved for sports teams. The band softly drops out during ‘The Sofa’ for the lines “Feels a little like I’m stuck in Seven Sisters / North London, oh, England / And maybe that’s okay,” leaving just the crowd and frontwoman Ellie Roswell to sing them in unison, right off of Seven Sisters Road. This is Wolf Alice’s house, now and forever.

Later on in ‘The Sofa,’ Roswell unleashes a yell the likes of which could maybe have been matched by Roger Daltrey in his prime, and the woman behind me bursts in to tears, Roswell pulling them out of her with just the power of her vocal chords. ‘The Sofa’ is a standout from The Clearing, and Roswell introduces it here by explaining that it’s about embracing the many different facets of yourself – the wild thing, the domesticated, all of you. In that, it’s about self acceptance, and I realise then that these tears – and this show – is not just business as usual.

The set is very much multi-faceted. The first third is fairly dominated by The Clearing‘s mid-tempo arena rockers and radio-ready ballads, including the brand new B-side, ‘Gospel Oak,’ which was only played previously at The Royal Albert Hall in March. Immediately following that, they treat us to ‘White Leather’, a tender, soft ballad from the deluxe editions of their debut record and not played at a tour stop since 2018 in Brixton. It flows beautifully from ‘Gospel Oak’, a new rarity segueing into an old bust-out for a one-two punch of hometown speciality.

If the first third is radio friendly, the back half is for the mosh. While Roswell does a quick (and wet) costume change, bassist fgfd xxdemands the pits open up, and so they do, just in time for ‘Yuk Foo’ into ‘Play The Greatest Hits’ and ‘Smile,’ three of Wolf Alice’s strongest and heaviest rockers. The crowd shifts, the sing-alongs now married by frenzied jumping and thrown elbows, an energetic yin to balance out the ballads’ yang.

The main set starts coming to a close with ‘Visions Of A Life,’ another rarity for the homecoming special, a treat fully appreciated by the faithful, and then the band starts playing ‘The Last Man on Earth.’ Now Roswell is the one fighting back tears. She embraces the vulnerability, not hiding it, but she doesn’t break either. “Who are you to ask for anything else? / The thing you should be asking is for help / You’d like a light to shine on you,” she croons, the song reinvented in that moment from a cynical take on performative arrogance to a seeming acceptance of community and growth in collective identity. They close on ‘Don’t Delete The Kisses,’ one last testament to insecurity wrapped up in a dance, and one of the all time great set closers.

The encore is pure energy, starting with ‘Moaning Lisa Smile,’ which was sorely missed on the arena run this autumn, and ending with ‘Giant Peach’, probably the best of their mosh-friendly tracks. Between them, though, is one last unexpected surprise – the opening chords to ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’. There’s a palpable sense of ” is this really happening??” throughout the jumping crowd, which only alleviates when they break into the verse. The band only treat us to one verse and chorus, though – a little nod to the things we all love being best enjoyed together.

Wolf Alice don’t need to prove anything to anyone. They’re one of Britain’s most creative and energetic bands, and have shown again and again that they’re one of the great live acts we have touring today. But when they play like this, when they take a Sunday night in July and turn into an historical event, they prove that legends are still being written, right here in our dark and pretty town.

Galleries

Wolf Alice

The Last Dinner Party

Lykke Li

Rachel Chinouriri

Keo

Florence Road