Photos and words by: Lucy Williamson
Tuesday night saw the return of the Eden Sessions as they celebrated the Eden Project’s 25th Anniversary with a sold-out show with quartet Wolf Alice and Cornish-Irish band Girl in the Year Above.
Arriving at the venue, it was good to be back at the Eden Project after seeing Biffy Clyro’s stellar set in 2025.
Opening was Cornish-Irish band Girl in the Year Above. Drawing inspiration from The Last Dinner Party and The Cranberries, the band blended a Celtic sound with a modern rock twist.
Dressed in an amazing Cornish tartan dress, Jennifer Ball mentioned how she’s from Cornwall and that it’s good to be back in the county for Eden Sessions. The band performed a mix of songs, including a haunting version of Massive Attack’s Teardrop, which featured in the Netflix film Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man.
As the mist and Cornish mizzle started to draw in, the stage was being set up for the highly anticipated Wolf Alice. The silver star glitter curtain, and the mirrorball, all set against the backdrop of the Eden Project’s famous biomes, created a truly special setting for the start of this year’s Eden Sessions.
Playing a 21-song set, the rock band opened with Bloom Baby Bloom from their latest album, The Clearing. Walking in sync down the on-stage steps to the beat after a guitar solo, after the first chorus, Ellie Roswell lined up with guitarist Joff Oddie and bass player Theo Ellis, who continued to hype up the crowd participation throughout the set with their energetic stage presence.
With a quick switch of guitars, the band went into their second song, White Horses, and Formidable Cool, before seeing the giant spinning disco ball for Just Two Girls.
Partway through the set, Ellie Roswell mentioned how incredible it was to be in such an iconic setting at the Eden Project before shouting out how Joff Oddie proudly hails from Cornwall.
Halfway through the set, red and blue police sirens sounded as Ellie picked up a glittered megaphone for the punk-filled track Yuk Foo. The atmosphere felt almost like the crowd were transported to a sweaty punk gig at The Killigrew Inn in Falmouth.
Being champions of supporting the grassroots music scene, Wolf Alice uses their platform as a place to shout about the importance of grassroots music venues, where they dedicated their ‘Group of the Year’ win to the grassroots music scene earlier this year at the BRIT Awards.
Switching to a Flying V guitar, Smile played with booming basslines, thunderous drums and striking vocals, one of the highlights of the night. Bringing it down a notch, Wolf Alice flowed into The Last Man on Earth, where the crowd lit up with a sea of phone torches, creating a truly magical atmosphere with people swaying side-to-side as they belted out the lyrics of the fan-favourite song.
With the crowd brimming with so much love for the band, it was only fitting for Wolf Alice to close their main set with their much-loved 80s-inspired synth track, Don’t Delete The Kisses.
As the band left the stage, a couple of minutes passed by as the lighting people teased that there *could* be an encore with golden lights flickering on stage, almost like they were saying “encore, encore”.
As the lights and biomes illuminated, the crowd began to cheer as the band returned to the stage for an immensely energetic three-song encore with Moaning Lisa Smile, You’re A Germ and Giant Peach.
The rain didn’t dampen the excitement for the return of the Eden Sessions, and there are still 9 more nights of live music for this year’s lineup, where 26 artists are set to perform to an intimate crowd in front of the iconic Biomes.
Still to play at this year’s Eden Sessions are:
- Thursday 18 June – Snow Patrol, The Florentinas
- Saturday 20 June – Becky Hill, Tom Aspaul
- Friday 26 June – Pixies, Gans
- Sunday 5 July – Bowling for Soup and Frank Turner & the Sleeping Souls, American Hi-Fi
- Thursday 9 July – Bastille, Alfie Templeman
- Friday 10 July – Ben Howard, This Is The Kit, Clara Mann
- Saturday 11 July – The Maccabees, Everything Everything, Tom A. Smith, Tummyache, The Velvet Hands, Matilda Finn Frances – doors from 3pm
- Sunday 12 July – Mika, MEEK
- Wednesday 15 July – CMAT, Katy J Pearson
Tickets are available via the Eden Sessions website.