Image: Joshua with keyboard player Myles Kellock (far left) and lead singer and also guitarist Tom Ogden (middle).

By Joshua Bean

Manchester has always been important to music; a city which is home to world class bands from Joy Division to the The Smiths, The Stone Roses to The Courteeners.

The Blossoms, originally from Stockport but adopted Manchester as their home town for gigs, have experienced huge success in the past year and look set to become Manchester and the U.K.’s next big band.

From being an unknown support act for The Courteeners 2014 winter tour, to filling the opening support slot at The Courteeners’ Heaton Park gig in June and now selling out their own venues; 2015 has been a huge step forward for the self-labelled ‘Ethereal Nostalgic Sonance’ genre band.

A band without an album and just two EPs to their name, the stir they are creating across the country is incredible. Blossoms are the band to look out for in 2016.

The five piece band consisting of; Tom Ogden as vocalist and guitarist, Charlie Salt on bass, Josh Dewhurst on lead guitar, Joe Donovan on drums and last but definitely not least is Myles Kellock on keyboards, first appeared on the scene with their debut single ‘Blow’, followed quickly by their single ‘You Pulled A Gun On Me.’ A guitar heavy track with Tom Ogden’s deep vocals serenading the listener, while being propped up by Myles Kellock’s distinctive organ sound, the Blossoms found themselves with a successful flowing guitar-pop sound mixed in with an evident Doors influence.

Towards the end of 2014, we saw the self-proclaimed Stockport ‘super group’ catch a break, as they supported fellow Manchester band, The Courteeners, for several nights on yet another sell out tour. It was on this 2014 tour, that I first saw the Blossoms perform, seeing them for a second time just a week later.

The first time came at the O2 Academy in Leicester. I turned up unaware of who the Blossoms were, never having heard of them before that night. But I quickly became entranced by the all black wearing band with their large keys necklaces and flashing lights throughout their support set. I left the gig not only thrilled at seeing my favourite band The Courteeners, but also a firm new fan of this young band. I was certain 2015 would see big things for them.

For once I was right. Blossoms went on to tour in Japan in early 2015 and then backed by their first EP ‘Blown Rose’, they managed to bagged themselves a slot as the opening support act for The Courteeners’ 25,000 sell-out Heaton Park gig in June.

With an ever increasing fan base and audience, the Blossoms embarked on a tour of their own, but this time it was different. The band were now selling out venues on their own, including the Manchester Ritz several weeks before the gig. But the band had one more trick up their sleeve to maximise interest. Just weeks before they went on tour, they released their a single from their upcoming EP ‘Charlemagne’. The single, also called ‘Charlemagne’, was a huge hit with fans and saw ticket sales soar.

After the tour the band took a visibly big step towards becoming the band I had predicted they would be. Several days after their home coming gig at The Ritz,  band released the remainder of the experimental EP ‘Charlemagne’ to more success from the fans and reviewers alike.

Now this exciting young band are preparing for a 2015/2016 tour, taking them across the U.K. and Ireland, and ending in Stoke in the popular venue The Sugarmill.

Most impressively the band have been able to sell out Manchester’s Albert Hall, a 2,000 person capacity, without even releasing an album.

As the Blossoms prepare to embark on their new tour, with an album due to be released at any point in 2016, next year is going to turn the Blossoms into one of the most exciting young band in the country.

Joshua is a first year Ancient History student. He has a passion for journalism, sport and music, mainly ‘indie’ and ‘pop-punk’. Follow him on Twitter here.