Wolf Alice
The Royal Albert Hall, Sunday March 29, 2026
Wolf Alice have played to much larger crowds prior to this evening, but you sense that the stakes have rarely been higher for them personally. After all, tonight they find themselves in the Royal Albert Hall at the personal request of one of their biggest inspirations. “It means so much to us to play this show,” says Wolf Alice singer/guitarist Ellie Rowsell, taking in the opulent venue. “We’re so grateful to Robert Smith and Teenage Cancer Trust for inviting us.” She is not alone in this. “It's unbearable how much I want to cry during this gig,” bassist Theo Ellis confides at one point, mocking himself. “It must be this gaffe.” Clearly, the North London band are taking great pride in closing this week-long series of charity gigs curated by The Cure’s frontman. With Smith’s other bill-topping choices comprising veterans like Manic Street Preachers, Elbow, Garbage, Mogwai and My Bloody Valentine, Wolf Alice are, by some distance, the youngest group to have his headliner stamp of approval. If there is pressure attached to this, however, they make exceptionally light work of it.
From the off, it becomes apparent that Wolf Alice are treating this as the one-off event it should be, and not just another date on tour. So much so, in fact, tonight the band who once wrote a song called Play The Greatest Hits staunchly refuse to play many of their greatest hits. Their vision for the Royal Albert Hall seemingly necessitated a lot of planned collateral damage on the setlist, with beloved favourites like Formidable Cool, You're A Germ, Giant Peach, Smile, No Hard Feelings and Yuk Foo all omitted. What they elect to do instead is bolder, braver and much more interesting. Take their opener, for example: out is Thorns, which has served as their usual (non-festival) curtain raiser. In its place is the glorious, shoegazey daydream of Heavenward, which makes its first appearance since 2020. Such moves feel like a statement of intent.
As their set unfolds, it’s not hard to fathom why this group have found themselves nestled so deeply in Robert Smith’s affections. Not only is their discography rich in assorted romantic premonitions, detours and disintegrations, but it’s also defined by musical adventurousness. From their scrappy alt rock roots, they have most recently landed on an intoxicating amalgam of Americana, folk and psychedelic rock with their 2025 No.1 album The Clearing. Already hailed by MOJO as “their best yet”, these songs have added a new dimension to their live show and that shines tonight. Among the first six songs aired alone, four are taken from The Clearing, including the bouncing jangle of White Horses and the piano pop of Just Two Girls. Yet it is Leaning Against The Wall that profits most in the live setting, not least because of the way it is dramatically brought to life by Ellie Rowsell. Striking as her stage presence already is – abiding by an extremely Cure-appropriate dress code of jet-black hair, black arm band, black dress and black boots – it is only amplified as she is sporadically bathed in red light. The result is a noirish vision straight out of a David Lynch film, and one that supercharges the song with atmosphere.
Before the gig, the question loomed as to whether Wolf Alice would honour Robert Smith by resuscitating their 2018 spliced cover of The Cure’s Boys Don’t Cry and Charli XCX’s Boys. They don’t, but that’s because they have different tricks up their sleeves as they welcome string and wind instrument players onto the stage for a mini set. First, they deliver Midnight Song from The Clearing, which gets its first full-band live debut. Noteworthy as this is, it’s outshined by what follows as Wolf Alice air two brand new, unreleased songs, Hit The Sky and Gospel Oak. The former is a jaunty folk strut, the latter, which is even better, is a beautiful, elegiac piano and violin ballad which clearly takes an emotional toll on Rowsell, her voice trembling throughout like she’s barely holding it together. At one point, the song is paused for a moment, seemingly to allow for her to regain composure.
As Wolf Alice proceed to deliver thrilling runs through Delicious Things, Lipstick On The Glass and Bros, not to mention the gem that is Shallowtail receiving its first airing since 2016, their growth as a live band is writ large. Particularly during How Can I Make It OK?, bassist Theo Ellis has become their answer to Flava Flav, a relentless hype man always glimpsed dancing or getting the crowd on board whenever he can, but it is Rowsell who impresses most. While always possessing a magnetic air of cool about her, she is evidently also having fun leaning into the role of imperious frontwoman like never before. Some of this finds expression as plain old showboating, with The Sofa seeing her leave the stage only to chill in the stalls and sing next to fans in their seats. Yet the star attraction remains her vocal dexterity. High notes, higher notes, breathy enunciations, whispers, dramatic inhalations, screams, tongue twisters (see Bread Butter Tea Sugar), tonight she does it all and more. Her finest moment arrives as Bloom Baby Bloom follows its steady intensification from sprightly piano intro to sprawling psych freak-out. It is about five songs’ worth of vocal approaches rolled into one. She delivers them all flawlessly.
If the two-song encore is a familiar one, to their credit Wolf Alice at least find a way to utilise the Royal Albert Hall to freshen it up. The Last Man On Earth rears its head first, albeit with a twist. Namely, a 70-foot-tall twist by the name of ‘Voice Of Jupiter’, AKA Royal Albert Hall’s gigantic organ. As Rowsell sings the song in the middle of the stage with said organ blaring notes above her, it sounds more like a sacred hymn than mere rock ballad. “Thank you for allowing us to play some songs we’ve not played in a long time, and some we’ve not played before!” she says afterwards, before bidding adieu. “This is our last one, it’s about love.” At this, perennial closer Don’t Delete The Kisses begins and the euphoria it elicits would make for a perfect parting note by itself. Throw in the Royal Albert Hall’s giant mirrorball being deployed to pockmark every surface with light and it becomes a grandstanding close. Of course, Robert Smith did warn us about this when he proudly proclaimed that all of the bands he had corralled for this year’s line-up are “at the top of their game”. Turns out he was spot on.
Wolf Alice, The Royal Albert Hall, Sunday March 29, Setlist:
Heavenward
White Horses
Just Two Girls
Leaning Against The Wall
How Can I Make It OK?
The Sofa
Midnight Song
Hit The Sky
Gospel Oak
Delicious Things
Lipstick On The Glass
Bread Butter Tea Sugar
Bros
Swallowtail
Bloom Baby Bloom
Encore:
The Last Man On Earth
Don't Delete The Kisses