Words by Ben Bowman.

Blossoms played host to a sold out O2 Kentish Town as their meteoric rise to the top continued. The Stockport band’s appetite and profound modesty was admirable, begging the question – how far can this band really go? In the first week of their Number One debut album tour and with European dates to follow in the autumn, it looks as if 2016 cannot get any better for them.

Arriving on stage around 9:15 pm to a spectacular strobe light show sound tracked by Kanye West’s Black Skinhead, they began in punchy, aggressive style with At Most a Kiss, with the buoyant crowd singing the riff straight back to them. All 5 of the singles from their chart topping debut, of which At Most a Kiss is one of them, were met by great rapture and excitement. This was then followed by two of the older singles that made it onto the album, Cut me and I’ll Bleed and a crowd favourite Blow, of which frontman Tom turned his microphone to the crowd as they belted back the chorus in unison, a cappella style, much to his delight.

Ogden then swapped his beautiful Rickenbacker and ditched the catchy synth riffs for his acoustic and warmed the crowd with the melodic Blown Rose, before taking to the stage on his own to serenade a broken hearted crowd member with My Favourite Room. After asking, ‘Has anyone been dumped recently?’ Ogden once again showed his charming quality by dedicating the song to lonely fan Dan by altering the lyrics and bringing the whole crowd together through his humour and wit and merged the song with the lyrics of Babybirds’ You’re Gorgeous and Oasis’ Half the world away.

Myles, Joe, Charlie and Josh then re-joined frontman Tom on stage as they powered their way through the set with the glamorous pop track Texia. Ogden once again put down the guitar for Across the Moor from the Charlemagne EP as he strutted round the stage for the next track Deep Grass, the concluding track on their album.

Blossoms wrapped up a really impressive show with fan favourite Charlemagne, a really excellent pop track, with a riff that is near impossible to shake from your head. One thing is for sure, they really know how to put on a show. With more UK dates to follow in December, fans once again have the opportunity to wrap their ears round the Stockport quintet’s infectious melodies. Support came from Manchester band Cabbage, whose raucous sound really got the crowd going, followed by Hertfordshire’s Declan McKenna, winner of the Glastonbury Festival’s Emerging Talent Competition in 2015.

This review was written by Ben Bowman, follow him on twitter here. 

Setlist:

1. At Most A Kiss
2. Cut Me And I’ll Bleed
3. Blow
4. Smashed Pianos
5. Getaway
6. Honey Sweet
7. Blown Rose
8. My Favourite Room
9. Texia
10. Across The Moor
11. Deep Grass
12. Charlemagne