Words By Keira Knox
Thirty thousand people flocked to Wythenshawe Park on Sunday night, eager to witness Blossom’s largest headline performance to date. The band is getting ready to release ‘Gary’, their fifth album, so Sunday night’s event was a celebration of what is to come from the Stockport band. Despite Manchester’s characteristic rainfall, the all-day festival promised an outdoor celebration with an impressive line-up of support bands.
The Guest List:
The Guest List, a rising rock outfit from Manchester, opened the Wythenshawe stage. The band has already amassed a large worldwide social media following and increased their live fan base by opening for well-known acts like The Wombats, Two Door Cinema Club, and now Blossoms!
They made a big impression with their opening set, accentuating guitar music from the offset. The audience was enthralled with the racing guitar riffs emanating from the stage and were hanging on every chord. The rendition of ‘161,’ a moving song that honours their community and the notorious Chapel Street, was one of my most favourite moments. The first world war survivors’ experiences are illuminated by the songs. Hearing it performed live was quite poignant, it’s a credit to the band’s amazing song writing skills.
TTRRUUCES:
TTRRUUCES truly blew the crowd away. They hold the title proudly of being one of the best support acts I’ve seen. Lead singer, Findlay is known amongst the crowd for her feature on Blossoms ‘To Do List (After The Breakup)’ but her appearance with her own band left the crowd stunned. Findlay has an enthralling stage presence that keeps the whole audience captivated for the duration of their performance.
I felt that the band’s captivating rendition of their track, ‘The Disco,‘ was one of the highlights of their performance. It’s a song that demands your attention; I don’t think I’ve ever been that engrossed in anything before. It’s amazing how they infuse iconic disco songs from the 1970s into their live performances.
Seb Lowe:
It’s always a pleasure to see Seb Lowe and his incredible band live. Their live performances never fail to impress and Wythenshawe Park was no exception. Renditions of ‘Terms and Conditions‘ and ‘5168 Days‘ sent the crowd into a frenzy, I mean performing anti-conservative tracks in a Northern venue is always going to go down well.
With the arrival of Kate Couriel on vocals, ‘Mr & Mrs Human race‘ sent the audience into a frenzy. The remarkable vocal harmonies of the two resulted in a kind of musical battle that is reflected in the lyrics of this heated political argument. Live, it’s even better! It’s incredible to see this level of support and appreciation for one of the supporting acts, they are more than deserving!
The K’s:
After their breakthrough performances on Reading and Leeds Festivals main stages, The K’s elevated it to a new level. The lively Earlestown band displays their versatility and are prepared to take on the indie scene with a high-octane set that features crowd-pleasing ‘Sarajevo’ and a breath-taking acoustic version of ‘Hoping Maybe’.
The band themselves seemed astounded by the volume of individuals who were screaming back at them from their songs. At one point, Dexter Baker even questioned if anyone had seen them previously, to which most of the audience cheered and applauded. Ryan Breslin travelled the length of the barricade after their set, stopping with each fan to snap a photo and have a chat as a way of saying thank you.
Shed Seven:
An air of nostalgia swept across Wythenshawe Park as Britpop legends Shed Seven took the stage. Wearing an unique garment made entirely of the evening’s event poster, Manchester’s own Rowetta joins the audience on stage as they enjoy classics like ‘Chasing Rainbows’ and ‘Going For Gold’.
This line-up’s versatility is absolutely remarkable. Spanning from up-and-coming young artists to those who have solidly cemented their spot in the music industry. Rick Witter of Shed Seven roamed the stage like a Northern version of Mick Jagger, joining in with the dancing fans. It is really pleasant to witness the band having as much fun on stage as the audience.
Inhaler:
With the anticipation building for Blossoms, Dublin band Inhaler made sure the crowd where suitably warmed up for the main act. As someone who has seen Inhaler 5 times, this for me was one of their best live performances to date. Elijah Hewson, Josh Jenkinson, Ryan McMahon and Robert Keating all seemed to be having the time of their lives up on stage, showing their gratitude to Blossoms for taking a chance on them in the early days.
The way Inhaler interacted with the audience was amazing. When Ryan McMahon’s drum beats for ‘Who’s Your Money On?’ begin, Robert Keating instructs the audience to bend down and be ready to jump. Thousands of people were jumping to some of Inhaler’s greatest songs as the crowd obeyed every word of the instructions, creating an electric atmosphere.
Younger fans in the audience were drawn to their energetic indie style, especially when they heard songs like ‘It Will Not Always Be Like This‘ and ‘My Honest Face,’ which whipped the crowd into a frenzy and cause mosh pits to form as everyone starts dancing along. Just as the band left the stage, Robert Keating shouted down the mic ‘Up the Blossoms’, and with that the crowd were left waiting for the headliners to grace the stage.
Blossoms:
I’m certain we can all agree that these guys are worthy headliners, regardless of whether you were there from the beginning and saw them develop into accomplished performers and festival standouts like this or if you only became interested after hearing their latest catchy indie hit.
The sun set over Wythenshawe Park, marking the arrival of the Blossoms. Frontman Tom Ogden emerges in his iconic classic black suit, lit up by stunning strobe lights against an orange backdrop. The crowd was captivated by the band’s easy coolness as they entered into ‘Your Girlfriend’. ‘I Can’t Stand It’ and ‘Getaway’ came next, to thunderous applause from the crowd. Ogden’s theatrical presence is genuinely captivating, as he was constantly patrolling the stage and engaging with the audience.
‘It feels like a big night,’ Ogden remarked to the enthusiastic audience. With Charlie Salt on bass, Josh Dewhurst on guitar, Joe Donovan on drums, and Myles Kellock on keyboards, they form a tight-knit group that enthrals the fans with their powerful, emotionally charged music. The band’s unique fusion of electropop and indie-pop sounds is readily apparent. Without a doubt, there is no other band that is more worthy of this level of accomplishment. Blossoms formed over 11 years ago and has worked incredibly hard to get to this point. entertaining thousands of people in their hometown.
The first significant sing-along came in the form of ‘The Keeper’. Fans swinging and jumping in time to the energetic climax of the the melody, countless phones lighting up the park as people get up on shoulders and fill the darkness of the night sky. Their performance was further enhanced when Findlay, lead singer of TTRRUUCES, joined them for a duet on ‘To Do List (After The Breakup)’, both Ogden and Findlay’s vocals blended perfectly to create something unique.
‘Perfect Me‘, their most recent single, kept the band on the upward trajectory and was getting an equally favourable response. During ‘Honey Sweet‘, everyone in the park starts singing along, and the energy level increases once more. Evidently touched by the event, Ogden grinned at the multitude of voices that echoed his lines. Being tucked in between the barrier and the crowd, I was able to witness the absolute joy on every band member’s face as they took in the enormity of the gathering in front of them.
‘Gary‘, the album’s title track, opened the encore. To the surprise of everybody, the notorious fibreglass gorilla, who has since been a mainstay of Blossoms’ most recent record marketing, arrives up. Officers showed up on stage in search for the imitation gorilla. Sirens and flashing lights combined to create an appropriate mix of comedy with a song that is quickly becoming an anthem for the band. What made Gary’s appearance even more hilarious, was his exit from stage. Ogden asking the crowd to say goodbye to Gary we took his instructions quite literally sombrely saying ‘Bye Gary’ in unison, as though we had been practicing our whole lives for this exact moment.
Blossoms then gathered in front of the microphone to perform ‘My Favourite Room’ acoustically in its most basic and raw form; infusing the Oasis hit ‘Half the World Away’ and ‘You’re Gorgeous’ to create an anthemic indie medley. The final song of the evening, ‘There is a Reason Why (I Never Returned Your Calls),’ flawlessly encapsulated Blossoms’ talent for fusing heartbreak with captivating melody. Everyone was jumping together, singing at the top of their lungs, it was a perfect moment.
To wrap up this historic night, the band proceeded to play the extended version of their 2015 smash song, ‘Charlemagne,’ which launched them to national notoriety. As the band played the last notes of the evening, the crowd bursted into excitement, screaming along and bouncing into a state of elation. Each member of the crowd was so proud to have witnessed these local heroes on the main stage.
Oh and did I mention there was a cheeky Oasis teaser to close the gig? But more news on that soon, hopefully 😉
Rockstars HQ 
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