Wolf Alice play sizzling homecoming gig at Finsbury Park, with Nirvana cover and Sweet Caroline send off

6 July 2026, 15:49

Wolf Alice's Ellie Rowsell at Finsbury Park on 5th July 2026. Picture: Matthew Baker/Getty Images

The London rockers gave the performance of a lifetime at their milestone homecoming show on Sunday. Find out what went down.

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Wolf Alice played a dazzling hometown show at Finsbury Park on Sunday (5th July).

After a scorching hot weekend of headline performances from Biffy Clyro and Kasabian, fans of the London rockers descended on the north London green space for a day of female-heavy excellence, with performances from Lykke Li, Rachel Chinouriri, KEO, Florence Road and The Last Dinner Party.

Taking to the stage just after 7.50pm, with frontwoman Ellie Rowsell dressed in a white two piece, Wolf Alice treated fans to songs from across their discography and most recent number one record The Clearing.

The gig was a particularly special one, not just because it was a huge capacity outdoor homecoming show, but because it was in the band's own stomping ground of North London and a mere mile away from where they wrote the last album.

Read more:

Where did Wolf Alice get their name from?

What stood out about the band was just how many sounds and styles they'd covered over the years, with the likes of Yuk Foo, Bloom Baby Bloom, White Horses, Smile, Visions of A Life, Bros and Just Two Girls all hanging out together alongside Moaning Lisa's Smile, Lipstick On The Glass, The Last Man On Earth and Don't Delete The Kisses.

It's hard to know what Wolf Alice actually do best, with their shoegazey and more tender piano-led ballads just as popular among the crowd as their harder rock and even prog-rock elements.

Wolf Alice can really play and they rocked out hard throughout the show— a particular highlight being their cover of Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit in their encore.

The sun didn't quite fully set during the show, due to its earlier finish time, but what the band lacked in lasers or pyro, they made up for in spades with an impressive staging, which saw the band against a backdrop of sliver streamers and a cut out star- which at one point their frontwoman was suspended in front of.

Leaving the stage as Neil Diamond's Sweet Caroline rang out across the park, a huge weight had been lifted off the band, who admittedly had big nerves ahead of their set.

They've already played some of the biggest festival stages and arenas across the world, but surely this milestone has proved the band could headline the likes of Glastonbury one day?

For us, it was a perfectly-pitched and satisfying summer gig. For Ellie Rowsell, Theo Ellis, Joff Oddie, Joel Amey and their touring member Ryan Malcolm we imagine it was a moment they'll never forget.