Blossoms live in Manchester: Homecoming heroes kick off residency in style

By way of subtle reinvention across their five-album career to date, Blossoms have managed to find an effortless staying power on the UK guitar scene, growing with each release and finding their voice as a unique and loveable outlier among their peers. 

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At the heart of it all has been a level of playfulness that can only come from close friendship. With all five members growing up as best mates in their Stockport stomping ground, they’ve gone on to achieve just about everything there is to do on home soil, from gargantuan headline shows at Manchester Arena and Wythenshawe Park, as well as opening for Mancunian royalty like The Courteeners and The Stone Roses.  

So what next? In true Blossoms style, the band have decided to undertake something completely new, a five-night residency across five different Manchester institutions, from tonight’s opener at The Academy through to a grand finale at The Apollo, a victory lap that will see them play to a combined total of around 12,000 people. Why? You can only imagine their flamboyant frontman Tom Ogden responding with an absent shrug of the shoulders and a mantra that’s served them so well through the years – why on earth not? 

This is of course the band who’ve titled their chart-topping fifth album Gary, after the lead-single concerning a fibreglass gorilla stolen from a Scottish garden centre. It may have been a gamble, but since arriving in September, the record has taken on a life of its own, with their new primate mascot appearing on national television from Jools Holland to Graham Norton as well as stages up and down the country.

Launching into their career spanning set with a strobing and dramatic introduction to ‘Your Girlfriend’, there’s a celebratory air inside the Academy from the off as the band get proceedings underway with an early string of festival favourites to get the party flowing including ‘I Can’t Stand It’ and ‘Getaway’. Throughout the introductory flurry, Ogden strikes Jarvis Cocker-esque poses like a man determined to usher in a bright new era.

The band’s playful spirit shines as they intersperse proceedings with dramatic snapshot transitions of ABBA, Queen and Oasis. With each venue on this run meaning something to the band, Ogden says, “We first played here in 2016 on our debut album so we thought we’d play you something off that,” as they flow into the shimmering and romantic ‘Texia’.

A highlight from the new record comes with ‘Big Star’, a track oozing with a new found sense of  glamour from a band full of confidence. The energy only increases as they turn up the dial with the disco-tinged CMAT collaboration ‘I Like Your Look.’ A track that’s clearly won the hearts of Blossoms fans new and old, the biggest testament of the night is that set closer ‘Gary’ already feels like a celebrated classic in the catalogue.

“Doesn’t feel like a Tuesday does it?” laughs Ogden as he introduces their generation-defining anthem ‘Charlemagne’. Midway through the track, the unmistakable frontman observes the crowd with his hands on his hips. It’s a new found attitude from the Stockport heroes who just keep finding new ways to win. The track is usually a celebratory closer, but tonight it’s ‘Gary’ that rounds off the show – proving that this unlikely piece of primate-based pop has already become one of their most beloved tunes. Tonight has all the makings of a levelling up moment from a band having fun every step of the way. Much like the Manchester giants who have come before them, Blossoms are firmly a band of the people.