poppedmusic

Blossoms

22 June 2019, Edgeley Park Stockport County Football Club

Words and Photos: Popped Music

“We hate it when our friends become successful and if they’re Northern that makes it even worse”.

Blossoms have been one of our Popped Music bands since the early days of Blow and turtleneck jumpers, and playing a hometown show at the home of Stockport County was the perfect way to celebrate the rise of five of the most genuine guys around. Because of their innate northernness and ability to release bangers like Charlemagne there is often snobbery towards Blossoms as just a good time band, but we at Popped Music know that before they were stars they were music geeks. I mean Josh was invited to join the band after spending a show standing at the front looking at how they used their guitar pedals.

The responsibility for getting the day off to a good start could only have gone to a band from Stockport given the real community feel to Blossoms’ event. Step forward Fuzzy Sun. Maybe it’s the Stopfordian accent in Kyle Ross’ vocals as well as being a five-piece, but there is a real hint of Blossoms-inspiration in the sound of Fuzzy Sun. This made them ideal for warming the crowd up, metaphorically it was roasting, as the similarity allowed those who were unaware of the charms of Fuzzy Sun get right in the mood.

I was worried before the event as to how well my current favourite band on earth would be taken by the many fans who had packed out Edgeley Park solely for a good time. The Blinders make politically charged indie rock sex music, but it isn’t exactly the most accessible sound of summer. I needn’t have given it a moment’s thought. If anybody was going to fail to enjoy The Blinders, well the Doncaster trio grabbed them by the collar and dragged them up to the dancefloor. When mosh pits of teenagers are forming to the sound of Brave New World, it gives you a feeling of hope and that we are getting closer to a new world and we don’t have to be brave about it.

Continuing the political indie rock theme Cabbage turned up next. My opinion on Cabbage has changed drastically of late, they are now one of my favourite acts to watch and listen to rather than a hyped up “must see”. There is something timeless about this band as they move on from being The Fall to being a band that nans can listen to on a summer’s day. “These are good pop group” I was told by one pensioner (there was a massive age range in the Danny Begara Stand were I was chilling out and avoiding the sun for a while). Cabbage, a good pop group is not a phrase I even thought I would type, but it fits them and brings a smile to my face. Especially when Uber Capitalist Death Trade is one of the most popular of their pop tunes.

When it comes to pop tunes, The Coral have some of the finest since the first acoustic guitar was made, admittedly accompanied by some of the most grown up and sedate tracks around. The latter made up the middle of the set from the lads from The Wirral, but the set started and finished with songs like Pass It On, Bill McCai, In The Morning, and the amazing, immortal Dreaming of You which rivalled the DJ’s playing of Not Nineteen Forever prior to the arrival of the headliners for the title of Best Singalong of the Day.

Whilst the majority of the time between The Coral and Blossoms was spent listening to the DJ play all the indie songs you want to hear when you’re drinking with your mates, Kanye’s Black Skinhead put a stop to the party and turned all eyes to the stage. Silence, and then over the speakers a song to get all the natives reaching for the Kleenex…. Frankie Vaughan’s Stockport, That’s Where It’s At. As he crooned “I’m going back to Stockport” like Jerry The Saint St Clair in Phoenix Nights, the lads who make you go back to Stockport took to the stage.

Opening up with debut album stomper At Most A Kiss, the stadium shook and filled with coloured smoke, and you knew without a shadow of doubt that the lads were not going to miss out on hitting this gig out of the park. This was the night that Blossoms’ career has so far built towards, and it was great to see how much pleasure everybody got from it. In fact, I climbed the stairs of the stand at the far end to give myself a moment to take in just how many people were watching and celebrating the quintet. It was a beautiful sight on a beautiful night.

The hour and a half they were on stage flew past like the various jumbo jets going over to Manchester airport throughout the day. It’s only afterwards that you sit back and recollect the various moments that blended into one giant highlight. Fan favourite Honey Sweet was magnificent; moving from Between The Eyes into the introduction of Blue Monday brought an insane reaction from the crowd; Tom cutting Blue Monday at the height of said intro; new track Your Girlfriend not causing a mass rush to the loo but people singing along like they’d spent two days practising for that moment; debut release Blow being the banger it was always destined to be (that song has come a long way since the turtlenecks); and then we had the finale.

Blossoms have always had a way with a cover version as a way of getting crowds going, but I don’t think many people were expecting to be part of a singalong to Bowie’s Let’s Dance. Then There’s A Reason Why (I Never Returned Your Calls) pushed it on before the song that got Blossoms to shed the skin of music geeks and accept that they are rock stars, Charlemagne. Unlikely rock stars maybe, but when you’ve got twenty thousand voices bellowing a reference to a European Emperor who created peace within the Catholic Church and was later canonised, you’re definitely a rock star.

Tom Ogden, Joe Donovan, Charlie Salt, Josh Dewhurst, and Myles Kellock, we at Popped Music love you and love you being successful, you beautiful northerners.