{"id":6714,"date":"2016-12-07T15:52:25","date_gmt":"2016-12-07T15:52:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/192.168.3.178\/?p=6714"},"modified":"2016-12-08T16:44:01","modified_gmt":"2016-12-08T16:44:01","slug":"live-reviews-blossoms-the-albert-hall-manchester-saturday-2nd-december-2016","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/2016\/12\/07\/live-reviews-blossoms-the-albert-hall-manchester-saturday-2nd-december-2016\/","title":{"rendered":"Live Review: Blossoms @ The Albert Hall Manchester &#8211; 2nd December 2016"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>As the blood-pumping drums of <a href=\"https:\/\/store.musicmagpie.co.uk\/products\/yeezus\">Kanye West\u2019s <i>Black Skinhead<\/i><\/a> pulsed through Manchester\u2019s Albert Hall on Saturday night, Stockport\u2019s very own Blossoms flooded the stage. Tom, Charlie, Josh, Joe and Myles make up this home-grown five-piece that have amassed a varied fanbase for their slick 80s rock-pop feel.<\/p>\n<p>The band have achieved a lot so far in their short career, that debuted in the very same city at the much smaller Night and Day Cafe. Tickets to see the Blossoms then were a mere \u00a33, but it\u2019s hard to imagine from their performance last weekend that they were ever that small.<\/p>\n<p>From couples reliving their days as 80s teens to students with vintage tastes, the eclectic crowd went wild for the funk-influenced opening track <i>At Most A Kiss<\/i>. A recent release, the song champions their synth guitar riffs and funky drum beats with Tom Ogden\u2019s smooth yet raspy vocals.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/5VXvOJ6b12k\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>It was followed by <i>Blow<\/i> that boasts a bass riff responsible for their comparison to Manchester\u2019s New Order, Oasis and The Coral. Critics have even been compelled to ask, \u201care Blossoms the new Stone Roses?\u201d\u009d. A bold statement that might just be proven true if shows continue to sell out like much of their 2016 tour.<\/p>\n<p>Their EP <i>Charlemagne<\/i> made it onto the Christmas vinyl charts this time last year, and was featured as BBC Radio 1\u2019s Track of the Day. It brought the band to the forefront of the indie-alternative genre, and sparked a fast-growing career. The Telegraph wrote: \u201cOne could herald Blossoms as potential saviours of a moribund genre. They certainly know how to write a big tune and deliver it with intent.\u201d\u009d As part of the crowd, it was easy to see how much they deserve that praise.<\/p>\n<p>The impressive psych-pop succession of <i>You Pulled A Gun On Me<\/i>, <i>Blown Rose<\/i> and <i>Getaway<\/i> proved their talent undeniable. The first of the three was Blossom\u2019s first ever release, produced by the lads themselves on a budget of just \u00a360 back in 2014. It is a silky-smooth funk track that attracted the attention of The Coral\u2019s James Skelly, who wasted no time in signing the lads to his label Skeleton Records. The hugely popular <i>Blown Rose<\/i> was next up, followed by the love-sick lyrics of <i>Getaway<\/i> that had even those sitting down pour their hearts out.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/cs_0z3DaIC4\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>A personal favourite of mine (and definitely of the dancing couple next to me too) <i>Honey Sweet<\/i> was blissful to hear live. Things got a little slower after that, until Tom in his Morrissey-esque \u201cMarry Me\u2019 sweater was left on stage to play <i>On To Her Bed<\/i> and <i>My Favourite Room<\/i>.<\/p>\n<p>But, the beautiful acoustic moment quickly morphed into a pre-encore, party mash-up of Babybird\u2019s <i>You\u2019re Gorgeous<\/i>, Wham!\u2019s <i>Last Christmas<\/i> and a little of Oasis\u2019 legendary <i>Half The World Away<\/i>. If that doesn\u2019t impress you enough to give Blossoms a listen, nothing will. It was a masterstroke only <i>Charlemagne<\/i> could follow: and it did, with confetti cannons and strobe-lighting for back-up. Of all the groovy songs ever deemed \u201d\u02dcimpossible not to dance to\u2019, it has to be up there with the best. As the most popular and most disco Blossoms track, <i>Charlemagne<\/i> is the one to try for a first-time listener, or the one to invest in if you\u2019re already a fan.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/WBtVjjLtEY8\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>All in all, these high school friends may be travelling the world, tearing-up festival stages and even supporting the Stone Roses, but right now Blossoms still seem to be ordinary guys from Stockport up on stage. This is so exciting to see from a band who have undoubtedly set themselves apart from the hoards of charts-rock-and-pop.<\/p>\n<p>Treat yourself to \u00a0their debut album and EP on Vinyl and CD on our store and flaunt your awesome taste in music to a friend this Christmas!<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/store.musicmagpie.co.uk\/products\/blossoms-2adab455-7175-449d-9f2a-fe71b6e4fb7c\">Buy <i>Blossoms\u00a0<\/i>on CD<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/store.musicmagpie.co.uk\/products\/blossomsblownrose\">Buy <i>Blown Rose EP\u00a0<\/i>on Vinyl<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/store.musicmagpie.co.uk\/products\/charlemagne\">Buy <i>Charlemagne <\/i>on Vinyl<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As the blood-pumping drums of Kanye West\u2019s Black Skinhead pulsed through Manchester\u2019s Albert Hall on Saturday night, Stockport\u2019s very own Blossoms flooded the stage. Tom, Charlie, Josh, Joe and Myles make up this home-grown five-piece that have amassed a varied fanbase for their slick 80s rock-pop feel. The band have &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":6717,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1859,159],"tags":[1867,1861],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6714"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6714"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6714\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6724,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6714\/revisions\/6724"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6717"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6714"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6714"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6714"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}