Review and Images by Jonathan Taylor
Instagram: @jonathantaylorphotography
Following the release of their standalone feel good summer single of ‘Your Girlfriend’ just in time for festival season and the mammoth sold out home coming concert at Stockport County FC Stadium, Blossoms embark on a series of intimate warm up shows, before venturing to Reading and Leeds Festival.
The Victoria Hall in Stoke on Trent is somewhat predictably a sell out, and is packed from the stalls to the upper circle with fans eager for an evening of uplifting indie synth based pop.
The beautiful surrounds of the venue which was constructed in 1888 to commemorate Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee erupts in an explosion of appreciation comparable to that of a Saturday afternoon on the terraces as Blossoms take to the stage. The set opens with the synth heavy single ‘There’s A Reason Why (I Never Return Your Calls)’ which has the boisterous masses bouncing and surging in appreciation, which is followed by the bass driven ‘At Most A Kiss’. Next up and taken from their second studio album ‘Cool Like You’ is ‘I Can’t Stand It’, which is a wonderful slice of uplifting pop that is shrouded in a tale of melancholy. The set continues with ‘Cool Like You’, Talking Heads inspired and latest release ‘Your Girlfriend’, followed by ‘Blow’, ‘Giving Up The Ghost’, ‘Honey Sweet’, Blown Rose’ and ‘How Long Will It Last’.
The Blossoms are illuminated with an incredibly impressive visual display of lighting and the set continues in the same vein with their signature indie sound. ‘Blown Rose’ another track off the band’s debut album is followed by hit single ‘How Long Will It Last’ and ‘Getaway’. The crowd then erupts to a brief instrumental cover of ‘Blue Monday’ by Manchester music royalty New Order. As the rest of the band leave the stage, front man Tom Ogden is left alone and continues the set with a perfect masterclass of beautiful acoustic story telling with ‘My Favourite Room’ which at the end incorporates brief renditions of ‘You’re Gorgeous’ by Babybird and ‘Half The World Away’ by Oasis.
Blossoms return to the stage for the encore with ‘Unfaithful’, which is followed by a stunning rendition of ‘Let’s Dance’ by the much missed icon of the industry David Bowie. The evening draws to a close with the anthemic classic ‘Charlemagne’, which sees the youthful crowd take to each other’s shoulders in an abundance of appreciation and the mass yet again swirls into another sea of surging beautiful chaos.
Blossoms are only two albums into their musical journey. The success they have achieved to date is largely down to a favourable amount of mainstream radio play and a youthful dedicated fan base who are continuing the passion for a musical genre that was so prevalent in the 90’s. In terms of longevity, they are a band who are still in their infancy and are still relatively wet behind the ears, but, after the success of their first two studio albums, continued live performances in the manner of tonight and with their loyal and dedicated fan base along for the ride, they will without question be part of indie folklore for many years to come.
