{"id":77488,"date":"2026-07-06T10:23:08","date_gmt":"2026-07-06T10:23:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/77488\/"},"modified":"2026-07-06T10:23:08","modified_gmt":"2026-07-06T10:23:08","slug":"wolf-alice-live-in-london-britains-finest-come-home-in-style","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/77488\/","title":{"rendered":"Wolf Alice live in London: Britain\u2019s finest come home in style"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s not often that Finsbury Park\u2019s summer gig series comes freighted with so much emotional weight. Tonight (July 5), though, Wolf Alice<\/a>\u2019s moment under the north London sun has plenty of special sentiment behind it. Not only is this their biggest headline gig to date \u2013 the culmination so far of years of hard touring \u2013 it\u2019s also closely tied to the band\u2019s history. Frontwoman Ellie Rowsell and bassist Theo Ellis both grew up not far from here, while the first gigs Rowsell and guitarist Joff Oddie played as they formed the band are a stone\u2019s throw away.<\/p>\n

It would be easy for Wolf Alice to play it cool, but you can tell how much that connection means to them as soon as they step on stage. After a vibrant \u2018Bloom Baby Bloom\u2019, punctuated with early bursts of white confetti, Rowsell looks out at the crowd as if she\u2019s surveying something magical. \u201cI hope you have the best day ever!\u201d she says, face lit up with joy.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s impossible not to, with the setlist that the band have put together tonight \u2013 a fine balance between latest album \u2018The Clearing\u2019<\/a> and their back catalogue. There are some surprises: \u2018My Love Is Cool\u2019<\/a>\u2019s sweet, springy \u2018Lisbon\u2019 arrives early on, while Rowsell performs the gorgeously stripped-back 2013 B-side \u2018White Leather\u2019 sitting on top of a column that\u2019s positioned in the star-shaped hole at the back of the stage. A cover of Nirvana<\/a>\u2019s \u2018Smells Like Teen Spirit\u2019 in the encore helps bring things to a riotous close.<\/p>\n

\"WolfWolf Alice\u2019s Ellie Rowsell credit: Matthew Baker\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

The songs we knew were coming are just as glorious. \u2018White Horses\u2019, led by drummer Joel Amey, really comes into its own live, turning the park into a sea of bouncing, waving bodies. Friendship anthem \u2018Bros\u2019 pays emotional tribute to the band\u2019s own bond and early days, with the big screens superimposing old tour diary videos on images of them playing today. A roaring run of \u2018Yuk Foo\u2019, \u2018Play The Greatest Hits\u2019 and \u2018Smile\u2019 shows off the punkier side of their sound, and the sludgy, metamorphosing \u2018Visions Of A Life\u2019 is reflective of the many ideas that bubble within Wolf Alice.<\/p>\n

Before traditional set-closer \u2018Don\u2019t Delete The Kisses\u2019 \u2013 which inspires fans to climb onto their friends\u2019 shoulders and scream back every word \u2013 a gigantic disco ball descends from the rafters, and Rowsell shares some words of encouragement with the crowd: \u201cIf you\u2019ve got a crush, you should probably tell them. If you want to start a band, you should probably start one.\u201d<\/p>\n

As they properly finish things off with the blistering \u2018Giant Peach\u2019, it\u2019s hard not to feel thankful that Wolf Alice followed their own advice. They\u2019ve been brilliant since the beginning, but over the years, have developed into one of the very best around. In \u2018Leaning Against The Wall\u2019, Rowsell nods to a romantic gesture by a partner as she sings, \u201cYou put my name up in lights\u201d. In these final minutes, Wolf Alice\u2019s own name is spelt out in bulbs that shine through the silver fringe that frames the Finsbury Park stage, and it feels like a testament to the years of hard work that have led them to this moment. Long may they continue.<\/p>\n

\"WolfWolf Alice\u2019s Ellie Rowsell credit: Matthew Baker\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Wolf Alice played:\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2018Bloom Baby Bloom\u2019
\u2018White Horses\u2019
\u2018Formidable Cool\u2019
\u2018Lisbon\u2019
\u2018Just Two Girls\u2019
\u2018Leaning Against The Wall\u2019
\u2018Bros\u2019
\u2018Gospel Oak\u2019
\u2018White Leather\u2019
\u2018How Can I Make It OK?\u2019
\u2018The Sofa\u2019
\u2018Bread Butter Tea Sugar\u2019
\u2018Yuk Foo\u2019
\u2018Play The Greatest Hits\u2019
\u2018Smile\u2019
\u2018Lipstick On The Glass\u2019
\u2018Visions Of A Life\u2019
\u2018The Last Man On Earth\u2019
\u2018Don\u2019t Delete The Kisses\u2019
\u2018Moaning Lisa Smile\u2019
\u2018Smells Like Teen Spirit\u2019
\u2018Giant Peach\u2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s not often that Finsbury Park\u2019s summer gig series comes freighted with so much emotional weight. Tonight (July…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":77489,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2],"tags":[13,6475],"class_list":["post-77488","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-britain","tag-britain","tag-indie"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@UnitedKingdom\/116872544459967696","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77488","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=77488"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77488\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/77489"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=77488"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=77488"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=77488"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}