Live Review: Florence + The Machine at Allstate Arena • Rosemont
(Photo: Curt Baran)
Florence + The Machine
Allstate Arena
Rosemont, IL
April 10, 2026
Review By Curt Baran
“Everybody scream!”
Not only is it the name of her latest single, but it was also something that shares the name of Florence Welch’s current tour. But at the first of two sold-out shows at Rosemont’s Allstate Arena, it also became a moment of mandatory audience participation, as she implored those assembled to do just that…scream.
Over two decades, Florence + The Machine has amassed a rabid audience with her torn-from-a-diary, confessional songwriting that touches on the good, the bad, and the sometimes painfully revealing sides of tragedy.
Over two hours, Welch excelled in delivering all of the aforementioned traits that have brought her well-deserved success throughout her now-second decade as a recording artist. The stage setup had her band anchored at one end of the arena and featured a catwalk extending almost the full length of the main floor. On songs like “Shake It Out,” “Dafodil,” and “Witch Dance,” the space allowed an already intimate feel to grow even closer. As the evening progressed, it would ultimately help smash the Fourth Wall into splinters, with her literally embracing fans along the stage barricades.
Flanked by a quartet of background dancers who could easily have also passed as a coven of witches and an impossibly tight band of musicians (harp solo has entered the conversation), Welch exuded her magical pixie vibe, using the long runway to emphasize every ebb and flow of the music as she floated the length of the venue, her every skip meeting each cymbal crash or bass drum kick. Even her hair flips were impossibly timed.
The one detail that seems to makes everyone of her performances so transcendent is the relationship she has with her audience. The nakedness of her lyrical content is so confessional that there’s simply no hiding from the emotional heft. It evokes something so revealing that the audience can easily supplant what she’s singing about and paste it onto themselves. It also creates a palpable energy that clearly feeds Welch, both personally and professionally. It lifts both artist and audience. During her vocal deliveries on “Howl,” “Sympathy Magic,” and “Heaven Is Here,” it was as if she were not only immersed in her band but also conducting a choir that was the entirety of those in attendance. In return, the almost-fragile-as-crystal choral practically levitated bodies that were already in motion.
But no moment was arguably more powerful than her unveiling of “Dog Days Are Over.” Typically, an artist’s radio staple lands firmly because it can appeal to both casual fans and those who are wholly invested. But at Welch’s urging, she encouraged those in attendance to do away with “those pesky devices” that get bandied about in the air at every opportunity and implored a packed house to stay in the moment. “If you’re doing this (mimics holding phone in the air), you can’t clap AND jump and still get your shot.” She even (politely admonished) one patron for having his“flashlight on me.” When the said person acquiesced and shut down the phone, the applause was uproarious.
But they would soon be eclipsed by an even more impressive cacophony. With all the distracting technology securely holstered, Welch played both her band and her audience. With arms aloft and the houselights up, everybody met the moment head-on.
The joyous sight of both viewer and performer locked down, bouncing in unison, finally breaking free of whatever awaited them in the dark of the night after their communal exit. It was the kind of purity that cannot be assessed at a cost. The magical woodland pixie that is Florence Welch stood at the farthest point of her jutting stage runner, beaming with the satisfaction that it took all those in attendance to help everyone reach an unforgettable, collective zenith.
Category: Featured, Live Reviews
