Wolf Alice, KEO and Cliffords @ 'In The Park Presents' - Exhibition Park, Newcastle - 12th July 2026
- John Hayhurst
- Jul 21
- 4 min read
It's Coming Home... Eventually – Wolf Alice, KEO and Cliffords prove British and Irish indie has never looked healthier.
Words and Photographs - John Hayhurst
There aren't many better ways to spend a Sunday evening than discovering your next favourite band before watching one of Britain's very best remind everyone exactly why they're at the top of the indie tree.
Newcastle's Exhibition Park delivered exactly that, with two outstanding support acts setting the scene perfectly before Wolf Alice capped the night with a performance that balanced stadium ambition with the intimacy that has always made them such a compelling live band.
First up were Cork's Cliffords, and if they're not already on your radar, they really should be.
Frontwoman Iona Lynch immediately commanded the stage, all effortless charisma and powerhouse vocals. A self-confessed Debbie Harry admirer, the influence wasn't difficult to spot, from her striking blonde hair to the confident stage movements that occasionally echoed Blondie's iconic frontwoman without ever becoming imitation.
Opening with "Expressions of Violence", Cliffords quickly reminded everyone why they're one of Ireland's most exciting emerging bands. Songs from their excellent Salt of the Lee EP, including "Bittersweet" and "My Favourite Monster", already sound like established favourites, while newer material such as "Rod for My Back" suggested there's plenty more to come whenever a debut album finally arrives.
One of the band's many strengths is their willingness to colour outside the traditional indie lines. The addition of trumpet added warmth and texture throughout, while keyboard player Locon O'Toole almost stole the show visually in a magnificent kilt-inspired outfit, which could have been made from his hotel curtain valance, but it deserved its own round of applause anyway.
A personal highlight came later and before Wolf Alice had even taken the stage. Wearing my Cliffords T-shirt, I was spotted by Iona's family and promptly pulled into the crowd to say hello to her. We'd actually spoken last year when I interviewed her, and she told me her dream support slot would be Wolf Alice. Less than a year later, there she was, living exactly that dream. Sometimes music has a lovely habit of coming full circle.
Next came KEO.
The Liverpool outfit, fronted by brothers sharing the surname Keogh – hence the band's name – are rapidly becoming one of the UK's most talked-about new bands, and on this evidence it's easy to understand why.
Playing six songs from their forthcoming debut album Put a Smile On For Me, due for release in September, KEO looked every inch a band arriving at exactly the right moment.
The Exhibition Park crowd certainly thought so. Chants of "KEO! KEO!" rang out after almost every song, creating the sort of atmosphere normally reserved for established headline acts rather than an afternoon support slot.
Older favourites "I Lied Amber" and "Thorn", taken from the Siren EP, prompted particularly strong reactions, while the newer material suggested the debut record could be something rather special.
There was an unmistakable sense that everyone present was watching a band on the verge of something much bigger. Give them a couple of years and it wouldn't be a surprise to see KEO returning to Exhibition Park with their name at the very top of the poster.
Then came Wolf Alice.
The stage looked magnificent before a note had even been played, dominated by a huge illuminated star and shimmering silver backdrop that sparkled throughout the evening as the lights danced across it.
As "Bloom Baby Bloom" began, Ellie Rowsell appeared at the very top of the staircase, wearing an orange cropped leotard beneath a faded Whitesnake Come and Get It tour shirt, black tights completing a look that somehow blended glam rock with effortless cool. Slowly descending towards the audience, she teased the crowd throughout before reaching the front of the stage and finishing the song by turning her back and delivering a wonderfully cheeky wiggle that drew one of the first huge laughs and cheers of the evening.
There was barely time to catch a breath before "White Horses", with drummer Joel Amey taking over lead vocals, demonstrating once again just how many dimensions Wolf Alice possess.
Rowsell quickly endeared herself to the Newcastle crowd.
"Had a good night in the Toon last night," she smiled, referencing England's victory over Norway. "Let's make it better than that."
Judging by the roar that followed, she achieved exactly that.
Later, introducing "Bros", she dedicated it to hometown hero Dan Burn, prompting another huge reception from an audience more than happy to celebrate both Newcastle United and England in the same weekend.
Wolf Alice's set struck the perfect balance between old favourites and newer material, with songs such as "The Sofa", "How Can I Make It OK?", "Yuk Foo", "Play the Greatest Hits", "Smile" and "The Last Man on Earth" reminding everyone just how varied the band's catalogue has become.
Closing the main set with the beautiful "Don't Delete the Kisses" was a masterstroke, leaving thousands singing every word into the Tyneside night.
The encore still had one surprise left.
Returning for four more songs, Wolf Alice slipped in a thunderous cover of Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit", a choice that somehow felt entirely natural before bringing the evening to an explosive close with "Giant Peach."
As the band left the stage, Baddiel, Skinner and The Lightning Seeds' "Three Lions" blasted from the speakers, with the Newcastle crowd happily taking over vocal duties, chanting "It's coming home!" long after the lights had gone up.
Whether football eventually does is another matter. British and Irish indie music, however, appears to be in remarkably safe hands.
