Florence Road Are Making Themselves At Home

It’s Florence Road’s first time in America, so of course the band has been indulging in all the delicacies they don’t have in their native Ireland — specifically Texas barbecue, Buffalo Wild Wings, lemonade, and oversized movie theater slushies. “You literally need two hands to grasp [the cup],” says guitarist Emma Brandon, who recently celebrated her 21st birthday at a Chili’s in Kansas City.

Their journey across the States might as well be the cherry on top of a banner year for Florence Road: In 2025, the Irish rock band released its debut mixtape Fall Back, a five-track project that caught the attention of Olivia Rodrigo and earned them an opening spot at Rodrigo’s Marlay Park and Hyde Park shows last summer. They toured internationally with Sombr in June, opened for Wolf Alice in November, and touched down on American soil six weeks ago to support The Last Dinner Party on the road. But tonight, they’ll play their first-ever U.S. headlining show at Baby’s All Right.

We meet at the Moxy hotel in Brooklyn an hour before soundcheck, their surplus of instruments, amps, and gear lining the walls of the lobby. When I ask how they’re feeling, Brandon, lead singer Lily Aron, bassist Ailbhe Barry, and drummer Hannah Kelly practically answer in unison: “So excited.”

Six weeks is a long time to be away from home, but luckily the thrill of being on the road hasn’t quite worn off on them yet. “We come from such a small place, and America is massive,” says Lily, 21. “To be here and to be getting to play to audiences, big audiences, it's amazing. It means a lot.” It helps that the people they’ve met along the way have all been really nice: Three people on their flight to Austin volunteered to remove their gear from the plane, a bus driver gave them a free ride from New Jersey to New York because they forgot to buy a ticket, and a couple in Pittsburgh promised to see the band in Cologne for their 30th anniversary. They’re collecting fans in every city, especially at the impromptu post-show merch stand meet-and-greets, where they’ve signed unused tampons, $20 bills, McLovin licenses, and “someone’s ass.”

When they’re not on stage, the group likes to wind down with some Grey’s Anatomy and crochet, or in Ailbhe’s case, make hand puppets until 1 a.m. “I really like making puppets,” says 21-year-old Ailbhe bashfully. “We went to Target, and I was like, ‘I need red felt. I need green felt.’" Hannah, on the other hand, has a much more touch-grass approach to staying sane on tour, disappearing on horseback rides and indoor skydiving “side quests” for hours at a time. “They find you. I'm never seeking these things out,” says Hannah, 21.

When they leave the U.S. exactly two weeks and six days from now, they’ll have a week to rest up at home before embarking on their U.K. headlining tour to support their latest EP, Spring Forward. They’ll also be spending their summer on the festival circuit, making stops at Primavera Sound in Barcelona, Reading and Leeds Festival, and Summer Sonic Festival in Osaka, Japan. “We’ll try to do the go-karting on the street, because we all love Mario Kart,” says Emma.

Who knows, maybe next time they return Stateside they’ll stay for even longer. “[New York City] is one of those places where I can see myself living. It doesn't happen in every place and everywhere,” says Emma. “We were driving here today and I was like, ‘I want to write a song that feels like this,’” Hannah agreed.

After 50 minutes of exchanging sweet stories from the road, it’s time to send the group on their way. They help their team pack up their equipment into a van out front (“We've kind of gone back to doing it a bit DIY for this show. It's been a lot of fun,” says Hannah), and make their way to the sold out venue. “We're going to give energy, but I hope the crowd does, too,” says Lily. “Can you start a mosh pit?”

Photographs by Kate Cummings.