Blossoms have had a meteoric rise in popularity over the past 11 years. Headlining Manchester’s ‘Live From Wythenshawe Park’ shows they are ready to continue dominating the main stage.
The Stockport sensations played their first gig at Oldham Street’s ‘Night and Day Café’, back in 2013, which made a measly £1 profit, on Sunday night, however, they performed at their biggest show, a crowd of 30,000. Not too bad for a group of lads from Stockport.
A well-run event in Wythenshawe with a stellar line-up of acts, complimented by a strong F&B offering with churro stands, fried chicken and pizza slices and pour your own pint stations to water Mancs.
The Blossoms gig started with some exceptional performances from up-and-coming locals, The Guestlist, followed by psychedelic rock band, TTRRUUCES, then a forty-minute set from fast rising Manchester TikTok star, Seb Lowe.
The stage really got going when The K’s, a band whose name rings bells for any indie fan, entered the stage. Their witty presence between band members, paired with the class vocals of James Boyle on their hit single ‘Hoping Maybe’ caused a tidal wave of good vibes and grooves in the audience. It left us hoping they’d maybe consider playing nearby for us again.
Shortly after their best performance to date (which was the end of a three-day musical bender for them), a national name entered the stage, Shed Seven.
Dating back to the 90’s, their impact played a huge part in Britpop as we know it. Lead singer Rick Witter, whose voice has only improved with age, pulled out the stocks – and some special guest stars, Issy Fernis and ravishing royalty, Rowetta.
Rick took us through his forty-year career with him during his time on stage, playing old classics such as ‘Going for Gold’, ‘Chasing Rainbows’ and ‘In Ecstasy’, followed by track, ‘Waiting for Gold’, teased to be on their new album, ‘Liquid Gold’, releasing this September.
But the night wouldn’t have been right without Dublin dazzlers, Inhaler. Returning the favour for Blossoms, who opened up at Inhaler’s hometown gig last year, the foursome made sure to preset the stage, and pulled out the stocks big time.
Following perfectly in the footsteps of frontman Eli Hewson’s dad, rock royalty U2’s Bono, their tunes take a unique twist. You’re sure to be seeing more of their devotion to vintage guitar music in a world full of techno tracks. Their 2023 album ‘Cuts and Bruises’ made an appearance, as did their love of old-style riffs. Top track, ‘If You’re Gonna Break My Heart’ ironically sounded like what can only be described as putting new strings on an old guitar, and we are here for it.
After what felt like a lifetime of waiting, with the gap playlist sounding like it should have been entitled “songs that excite the British folk” – consisting of top hits such as ‘Mr Brightside’, the crowd fell silent as soon as the clock struck 21:05, Blossoms’ adhered to set time.
The stage flooded with ocean blue lights and enough smoke to fill the Titanic. After 18 teased bangs and pauses, the fivesome, consisting of lead singer Tom Ogden, drummer Joe Donovan, bass guitarist Charlie Salt, lead guitarist Josh Dewhurst, and pianist/backing vocalist, Myles Kellock, made their presence known.
From the get-go, Blossoms knocked it out of the park (yes, literally!) Tom Ogden’s persona changed as fast as the weather, but trust us, that was not a bad thing. The “wow, this is their best performance to date” feeling truly kicked in on track four, ‘Oh No (I Think I’m In Love)’.
Tom’s handling of lead, his comically dramatic gasps and hand gestures for each “Oh No!”, and his willpower to remain in this faux drama style character, showed that these lads truly are ready for the big leagues, and are getting there in their own way.
Honouring their Mancunian heritage, Tom made sure to reminisce on the times the group used to watch Stone Roses play in Heaton Park, and explained how playing Wythenshawe’s ‘Live in the Park’ “just feels right”. We’re with you on that, Tom.
Tom’s silencing scream, in line with the orange ambience set, prepped the 30,000 Blossoms disciples up for hit single ‘Honey Sweet’. And I swear, for the first time that night, you could hear every single one of them singing alongside him. The vibrations from the symphony of drums and guitars could literally be felt through our bodies, forcing legs to shake.
After seeing front trio, Tom, Charlie and Josh, do a conga style dance, their stage presence could only be described as if musical legends ABBA and Queen had a love child. And ironically enough, the opening of ABBA’s ‘Dancing Queen’ was remixed in the beginning of Blossoms’ ‘Real Life’.
We were even lucky enough to meet Gary, an 8-foot statue of a gorilla which Blossoms have dedicated an entire album to, who was escorted out with sirens and the flashing of red and blue lights after detectives swatted the stage. Fans went completely bananas for it, understandably.
Foreshadowing the now known Oasis reunion, Blossoms then remixed ‘My Favourite Room’ with Oasis fave, ‘Half The World Away’.
Surely it cannot be a coincidence that their encore was followed by Oasis’ teaser poster on the big screens, especially when Noel Gallagher first played Wythenshawe Park last year…
Oasis’ 2025 tour is already guaranteed to be incredible, but if Blossoms are involved, then you truly do not want to miss it.