FLORENCE ROAD: VULNERABLE, ENERGETIC & UNFORGETTABLE IN BIRMINGHAM

LIVE REVIEW | FLORENCE ROAD | BIRMINGHAM O2 INSTITUTE 2 |19th May 2026 by Charlie Wright

Formed by childhood friends Lily, Emma, Ailbhe, and Hannah, Irish-hailing Florence Road has been on an upward trajectory since their debut single (and EP) in 2025.

Shortly after finishing school, they’d already been snapped up by Warner and have since released a second EP and toured the States with The Last Dinner Party.

Florence Road’s style is an exciting combination of soothing vocals reminiscent of Olivia Rodrigo with the heavier riffs found in Wolf Alice. It won’t be a surprise, then, that the band received endorsement from Rodrigo, jumped on her GUTS Tour, and will also be supporting Wolf Alice at Finsbury Park this year.

To support their second EP, Spring Forward, which includes the enormous ‘Hanging Out To Dry’ and melancholy ‘Rabbits Can Swim’, the band hit the road on a huge headline UK tour this May. Across seven dates, they visited Glasgow, Manchester, Newcastle, Leeds, Birmingham, Bristol and finished at London’s iconic Koko.

At a sold-out show at Birmingham’s O2 Institute 2, the community developing around the band was very apparent; fans came prepared with signs and even fun masks. When Florence Road took the stage, they kicked off with a new offering on ‘7563’ without a moment to lose. Following that, they dove into ‘Figure It Out’, ‘Hand Me Downs’, then two more new ones, ‘White Smile’ and ‘None The Wiser‘.

At every moment in the set, people remained captivated by the band, who were in their element. Before slowing the show down midway through, frontwoman Lily asked the audience to take a cathartic deep breath.

The key highlights throughout the evening came during ‘Hanging Out To Dry‘ and the finale track, before the encore called ‘Goodnight‘. Both felt incredibly electric live, and demonstrated the potential for much bigger stages. Of the jam-packed 16-track setlist, 6 were unreleased. From the fiery ‘Surprise Surprise‘ to the smashing ‘How Does It Make You Feel‘, it’s clear the group have plenty up their sleeve for future releases.

If you’ve not seen Florence Road live yet, you’re missing out. Festival goers, you’ll have plenty of opportunities to catch them this Summer. If you’re attending Reading/Leeds Festival, BBC Big Weekend, Truck Festival, and Latitude, to name just a few, make sure you’re down the front. Details for tickets here.