Live Review: Blossoms - AO Arena, Manchester 18/09/2021
After eighteen months without live music at Manchester’s AO Arena, 15,000 fans flocked to the venue to witness an electric homecoming show from Stockport based indie rockers Blossoms.
Opening the sold-out concert was The Lathums, an alternative quartet hailing from Wigan. I had never seen The Lathums before, but I can confirm that this band are astonishing. Their performance was packed with the impressive guitar riffs in tracks such as ‘Fight On’ and a particular highlight was the piercing vocal talent of frontman Alex Moore during ‘I See Your Ghost’. Finishing with a powerful crescendo of drums, The Lathums provided an incredible start to the night.
Next was The Magic Gang, minus guitarist and vocalist Kristian Smith. Their performance included a selection of fan favourites such as ‘It’s Alright’, ‘Jasmine’ and ‘How Do I Compete’ and the Brighton four-piece were met with a good reception from the crowd, albeit a short setlist and a missing member.
As the audience chanted along to ‘Sweet Caroline’ and ‘Don’t You Want Me’, the atmosphere was electric leading up to the arrival of Blossoms onstage. The headliners soon opened with the infectious bass lines of ‘Your Girlfriend’ and frontman Tom Ogden confidently strutted and danced his way around the stage of AO Arena from the very first note.
Proudly announcing ‘We’re Blossoms from Stockport’, the band performed hit after hit from all three of their records. The setlist contained newer tracks such as ‘The Keeper’, performed on a piano lit up with the word ‘LOVE’, and older fan favourites ‘Cut Me and I’ll Bleed’ and ‘Honey Sweet’. The crowd went especially wild for the punchy rhythms of the euphoric ‘If You Think This Is Real Life’ before being instructed to put their arms around their loved ones for the beautiful ‘Falling For Someone’. The visual and lighting elements of the performance were also second to none - the band demanded the attention of the entire arena.
My personal favourite track ‘Between The Eyes’ was the highlight of the set, as the audience were treated to a powerful instrumental mid-track and then a short outro of New Order’s ‘Blue Monday’. It was clear that Blossoms truly relished their time on stage and Odgen requested a ‘Saturday night Manchester arena applause’ for the band and backing vocalists. Another beautiful moment was the acoustic performance of ‘My Favourite Room’ into ‘You’re Gorgeous/Half The World Away’ before the encore, as phone lights lit up the enormous room.
Blossoms soon returned to the stage, donned in matching black flared suits and white ruffled shirts to treat the crowd to a performance of their recent release ‘Care For’. This was then followed by ‘At Most A Kiss’, ‘Oh No (I Think I’m In Love)’ and finishing on the feel-good riffs of ‘Charlemagne’.
Blossoms are, I argue, one of the best live acts to come out of Manchester’s indie music scene, and Saturday night’s sold-out show at the AO Arena confirmed that this band are truly deserving of such a big stage.
Words by Jess Foster
Photography by Abbie Jennings