Blossoms celebrated the release of their sixth studio album, Songs From The Wedding Cake, with two intimate, back-to-back shows at Stockport Plaza, performing the record in its entirety for devoted fans. The band's enduring romance with their hometown was on full display as the town continues to undergo a cultural and physical renaissance.
A Hometown Renaissance
Stockport's love affair with Blossoms continues to blossom, with a palpable sense of improvement in the air. A vast new neighbourhood under the historic viaduct is all but finished, one of many developments transforming the once bleak urban landscape. County are on the up, and there's a buzz on the Underbanks again.
People clutching tote bags and sipping flat whites while thumbing through Penguin paperbacks yards from the bus depot would have been unthinkable in the not-too-distant past. Blossoms are at the heart of this renaissance, as trendy gorpcore-styled kids in baggy, flared jeans and Salomon hiking trainers shuffled around Redrock on a rainy Thursday night.
Album Launch Performances
The album, a nod to the local nickname for Stockport Town Hall where frontman Tom Ogden got married, was released earlier this month. The announcement of the two Plaza shows sent devotees into a frenzy, with fans singing every word and chanting every melodic fill as the record was performed in its entirety.
Tom led the band out in sunglasses, a white dinner jacket, and an outrageously long tie. The crowd was promised a few classics at the end if they screamed loud enough. The album's broad theme of marriage, romance, and the reality of matrimony is clearly autobiographical on Tom's part.
Setlist Highlights
Joke About Divorce opened infectiously with a vintage Blossoms refrain and bouncy, disco guitar line. Meet Me in Love felt like a classic, while bongo-driven The Kardashians painted a picture many a partner would recognise. Joe Donovan's drums in Fall into You boomed as the tune rose, and Additional Driver, telling the story of a minor crash Tom had outside Manchester's Apollo, was an obvious favourite.
Uma Thurman was enormous fun, with Tom strutting around the stage before being passed an acoustic guitar for Where Have You Been My Whole Life?. The closer, The Deep End, slowed things down with a gorgeous outro laden with harmonies and twinkling guitar lines, sending the band off into darkness before an inevitable encore.
Classics Your Girlfriend, There's a Reason Why (I Never Returned Your Calls), Charlemagne, and Gary followed before the fun came to an end. Like Stockport, the band continues to grow, as does its love affair with the people proud to call the town home.
