LIVE REVIEW: Wolf Alice, Sunflower Bean, Bria Salmena, Utilita Arena, Birmingham, 29/11/2025
Photo Credit: Lene Ray
On the 29th November, we attended Utilita Arena Birmingham for Wolf Alice’s The Clearing tour. The supporting acts were Bria Salmena and Sunflower Bean.
Bria Salmena is a rising Canadian singer who had also previously fronted the indie/punk band FRIGS and spent time as a backing vocalist for the country artist Orville Peck. Bria was first to hit the stage of the almost – full arena with an array of genre’s including country, punk and rock. We heard positive feedback from the audience regarding her set as unfortunately due to transport issues we missed this set.
Next up were New York rock-trio Sunflower Bean. Sunflower Bean were founded in 2013 starting out as a lo-fi/garage-rock band, but then progressed into a more polished rock/punk band with dreamy vocals. Band members took to the stage with an already excited audience. Nick Kivlen took his guitar, Olive Faber to her drums and lead singer/guitarist Julia Cumming took to the middle stage with guitar and mic. With a black satin curtain behind them and ‘Sunflower Bean’ in red neon lighting on either side of the stage the band were all set to go with Cumming wearing a beautiful black gothic dress. Straight away it was evident that together their harmonies coupled with electric guitar were powerful. Head banging was spotted throughout the audience as soon as they started. Kilven took over vocals for some of the songs as they progressed to a more gothic metal vibe. By the end of their set Sunflower Bean had the audience already buzzing ready for Wolf Alice.
Wolf Alice were next. The crowd were fired up and raring to go with anticipation and excitement. Wolf Alice, the North London based band began in 2010 with Ellie Rowsell and Joff Oddie starting as an acoustic duo. In 2012 they expanded into a full band with Theo Ellis on bass and Joel Amey on drums, shifting from acoustic to a louder alternative-rock band. In 2015 they released their debut album My Love is Cool which started their journey to stardom, and being nominated for a Mercury prize, since then they have gone from strength to strength touring worldwide. They had adapted their style throughout the years and evolved with the music scene which has helped them to stay relevant and huge. They adapt like a chameleon to each genre they take on as if it’s their own, which explains why they have such a huge fan base and this was evident as the Arena was full of screaming fans of all ages.
The stage was set up as a V shape with a point outwards to the crowd for Rowsell to take to get closer to the fans. The stage had a silver retro style tinsel foil backdrop with a star carved into it, giving a 70’s cabaret feel. Band members Oddie, Ellis and Amey took to the stage first; screams coming from the crowd as each waved to their fans and taking to their instruments with an eerie synth intro playing. A spotlight then came on to centre stage and Rowsell appeared through the foil curtain as screams became louder and the tension was palpable. Rowsell wearing a retro style leotard coupled with black opaque tights really fit with the 70’s nostalgic look. The eerie synth then turned into keys which began the song Thorns from their new album, The Clearing. The whole crowd erupted; singing along and arms in the air. It wasn’t long before Rowsell took to the V shape getting closer to the crowd, crawling on the stage with the cooling fans blowing through her hair and looking like the rockstar lioness she is. The lights turned from bright white to red as they played How Can I Make It Ok? from their Blue Weekend album, which had the seated audience on the upper tiers on their feet singing along and waving their arms. Rowsell took to a pink rotating circle on the stage looking up to the cameras that were shown on the large monitors as she sang The Sofa which was mesmerising to watch.
Ellis made an emotional speech thanking the fans in Birmingham for all their support, and how grateful they are to be playing at this venue before playing Bros which had everyone smiling and dancing throughout the area. Rowsell then told the audience that for the next song she wants everyone to let off any rage they have and imagine someone who has angered them and scream out for the second verse. They had everyone practice by shouting out as loud as they could before singing Safe From Heartbreak, a melodic country bluesy track full of emotion and anguish. All the band stood together on stage and the audience were lit up by torches on phones lighting up the arena like the night sky; it was beautiful and enchanting. They continued with their more country style tracks before ramping it up with sirens alarming, strobe lights flickering and Rowsell with a speaker phone in hand singing to their punkier track Yuk Foo which had the crowd jumping and the floor bouncing. They continued their set with engaging visuals of differing lighting, colours, energy and sounds. The band left the stage and had the audience shouting for an encore. They came out to perform their final song Don’t Delete The Kisses on a warm, pulsing synth and a steady heartbeat – like rhythm. This track is their most played track on Spotify. It had the crowd going wild, and the band really used their buzzing energy and positive presence for the last song of the night with them leaving the fans on a high.
We found this show to be a journey in sound, showcasing Wolf Alice at their finest, representing their wide range of genres and adaptation to change during the years to keep relevant and fresh. They performed a good mix of tracks from their new album as well as their older material keeping fans of all ages happy and engaged. They played a tight set and their passion was evident, Wolf Alice really do know how to put on a show.
Words and Photos: Lene Ray
