What Is It Like to See The Lilacs Live?

Two Songs End Every Night

You'll know the end is coming when the band starts "Grace." "Vicarage Road" follows it, and that pair has closed every headline and festival set with a documented ending through 2025 and 2026, from the sold-out Garage show in February 2026 to Latitude's Second Stage in July 2026, per setlist.fm. They're also the two songs the band has played most: "Grace" 60 times, "Vicarage Road" 59. "Vicarage Road" was the debut single in January 2019 and the first song the four of them wrote together. At The Garrison in Barnsley in February 2026, Taped Magazine's reviewer said the room was loudest for exactly those two, with people jumping on the floor, the stairwell and the balcony. If you only learn two choruses, learn these.

The Song About the Clinic

The band name comes from The Lilac Centre at St Helens Hospital, where Sam Birchall's mother was treated before she died of cancer in 2018. LeftLion's reviewer ties "Grace" to that same story, and the band doesn't hide it from the stage. At The Garage on 5 February 2026, fans went up on shoulders during it and the reviewer described the room as "almost feral." Since Birchall's own testicular cancer diagnosis in February 2025, it has carried more weight. At Leigh Sports Stadium on 30 May 2026, Ollie pointed out that Sam had just been given the all-clear. It is a bouncing indie band most of the night, then this.

The Drummer Goes First

Dave Gomersall walks out before anyone else and plays a solo, then Ollie, Sam and bassist Matty Johnson come on and the first song starts. Ollie described the routine in a 2023 Taped Magazine interview: three beers, a huddle, "Drummer Dave plays a solo first." It was still the opening at The Garrison in February 2026. "Where've You Been Hiding" has opened every documented headline set of 2026, so the drum solo runs straight into it.

"Sally" Is the Singalong

"Sally" is their fourth most played song (42 times, per setlist.fm) and it is the one the whole room sings. At the Liverpool O2 Academy on 21 February 2026, Taped Magazine heard "one of the biggest singalongs of the night" on it. At Foundry in Sheffield the whole venue joined in, and the Barnsley review says it's "well received everywhere the band plays." "Act Your Age" is the other arms-up one: at The Garage, arms stayed raised "for nearly the entire track." The covers lean north. The Beautiful South's "Don't Marry Her" turned up on the 2026 run, and they played The Stone Roses' "Sally Cinnamon" at Manchester Academy on 22 November 2025.

A Room That Already Knows Them

This is a regional following, and it shows. At The Garage the room was "filled wall to wall" with people who knew the words. Taped Magazine's Sheffield reviewer said the fanbase "never seem to tire of a show no matter how often they see them." One fan, Shane Fillingham, planned to see eight of the nine dates on the tour that followed their 2024 show at the O2 Ritz. Football follows them in. The band launched Wigan Athletic's purple and black third kit in August 2025, and in Liverpool a chant of "Ollie, Ollie, Ollie" went round the room. Reviewers keep comparing them with The Courteeners; the Liverpool reviewer thinks they're carving out their own lane.

17 headline dates from Voodoo in Belfast on 26 February to 10 April 2027, the first run since the debut album Keeping Up With The Joneses came out in October 2026. No official tour name has been given.

The Biggest Hometown Room Yet

The Manchester date is O2 Victoria Warehouse on 3 April 2027, the next step after Academy 1 in November 2025. Most of the other dates are mid-size rooms, from The Welly Club in Hull to Concorde 2 in Brighton, plus The Octagon Centre in Sheffield, which they already sold out in November 2024. Their first two European headline dates close the run on 9 and 10 April.

What the Set Will Look Like

There's no 2027 setlist yet. Four of the album's eight new songs were already in 2026 festival sets: "Girl Behind the Bar," "What's The Worst That Can Happen?" (debuted slowed down and acoustic-led at Leigh in May 2026), "Miss Behavin'" and "Calling It a Night," whose refrain the crowd sang back at Metronome in February 2026. The album also has re-recorded versions of "Grace" and "Vicarage Road," so expect those two to keep the closing job. Joe Cross, who has worked with The Courteeners, produced it.

The October 2026 Record Store Run

Right before release they played a stripped-back record store tour, 8 to 20 October 2026, in shops and small rooms including Rough Trade East and Wax & Beans in Bury, most with a signing straight after. Tickets came bundled with a Record Store Tour CD with alternative artwork that was only sold that way.