Blossoms | Nieve Ella
Wolverhampton Civic Hall
Friday 18th April 2025
Louche, funk-pop singalongs aplenty – as well as a special simian guest – as Stockport’s finest beat their chests at a sold-out Wolverhampton. Sam Lambeth knows he probably should be sleeping.
Anyone thinking that support act Nieve Ella is wearing a Wolverhampton Wanderers football jersey to curry favour with the Midlands faithful is in for a quick surprise. “I was actually born 15 minutes away from here,” the singer-songwriter reveals, cueing many quizzical looks across the Civic as the locals try to pinpoint which part of Wolvo she’s from (many audience members settle on the idyllic village of Codsall). Shockingly, it’s her first ever gig in her hometown and Ella and the band certainly leave their mark in pristine, harmony-driven indie pop, driven by Ella’s soaring vocals and Timothee Chalamet lookalike Finn Barlow’s dextrous guitars. You soon begin to feel that she and the group might even outgrow these venues.
Like indie torchbearers Arctic Monkeys before them, Blossoms have evolved from scruffy, sticky-floored indie tykes to retro, dancefloor-filling chic. While they have yet to devote an album to an imaginary, moon-based hotel, tonight’s stage show does have the feel of a delightfully gaudy, nostalgic nightclub – or the kind of living room Andy Warhol might have frequented after finishing a shift at The Factory. With a backdrop adorned in the glam curtains that graced their most recent album Gary, a good old-fashioned four-track recorder clicks into gear next to a bright red rotary telephone.
Singer Tom Ogden also understood the assignment. The snake-hipped singer is tall and rakish – in fact, the only wide thing about him are his stunning flares. He’s a charismatic frontman, frolicking flamboyantly on the ABBA-esque Care For and irresistible paean Your Girlfriend. Such is Blossoms’ commitment to the aesthetic that Ogden explains he cannot remove his leather jacket – a tiny accoutrement that looks like it’s been purchased from the toddler section of Urban Outfitters – because unsheathing from it would ruin the rest of his outfit.
This focus on fashion and pop culture bleeds into the new songs. The propulsive Big Star fixates gushingly on Raygun editor Marvin Scott Jarrett but, in true modern Blossoms fashion, transports the encounter to the rich 1960s era of Marilyn Monroe and Jim Morrison. The strutting groove of I Like Your Look namechecks more fashion brands than Edwina Monsoon. Mothers is a sweet, swirling ode that references The Smiths and, natch, Rick Astley. Even more visually appealing is Nightclub. The lights get suitably low, neon is added and – the piece de resistance – Myles Kellock straps on the keytar as the band lean heavily into their love of bombastic ‘80s pop.
It’s easy to forget that Blossoms are now reaching stalwart status – they’re already on five albums and last played in Wolverhampton back in 2015, supporting fellow Mancunian shape-shifters The Charlatans. In that time, they’ve embraced bands as contrasting as Talking Heads and U2 without ever dissolving into pastiche. They’re not afraid to dip back into those old days, either – hirsute guitarist Josh Dewhurst adds a bit of grit and fuzz to rollicking classic At Most A Kiss, which gets two geriatric-looking punters up on their feet in nostalgic glee. Down in the standing area, one person has spent such a long period on their partner’s shoulders that you begin to admire the latter’s stamina and ask what creatine they’ve been chugging.
Contrastingly, everything is dialled back for the contemplative My Favourite Room – gathered together at the front of the stage, it’s a sparse and reflective ballad that proves Blossoms are just as potent when they remove some of their indie gleam. They guys also respect the classics, interpolating the track with snippets of Telford auteurs Babybird’s You’re Gorgeous, World Party’s She’s the One (made famous, lest we forget, by Robbie Williams) and sitcom standard Half the World Away.
There’s no encore, but there really isn’t much need when you have a closing salvo as strong as what the Stockport natives share. There’s A Reason Why (I Never Returned Your Calls) glides smoothly on Kellock’s rousing keyboards and causes a few (nearly empty, thankfully) beer cups to be thrust forward with reckless abandon. Charlemagne has a lot of the sold-out audience reminiscing about the creepy faces that adorned Snobs (IYKYK) and even causes a circle pit, although the moshing that the floppy-fringed kids ensue is all rather polite.
For the entirety of the gig, the only extra member onstage has been flawless percussionist John Simm (no, not that one) but that soon changes for the final song, when a special member is wheeled out. Not since Harambe has a primate caused such admiration and respect, and when Gary the gorilla is positioned at the front of the stage, the audience chant his name with the awe that Iron Maiden fans must shriek when they unearth Eddie. The track that shares his name, a pristine earworm of jangle pop genius, has all the hallmarks of modern day Blossoms – lush, gorgeous hooks wrapped up in witty, light-hearted couplets.
Defiantly independent, creatively restless and propelled by an unstoppable supply of stone cold grooves, Blossoms leave the Wolverhampton audience as wide-eyed as the band’s taste in trousers.
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You can find Blossoms on Facebook and their website.
All words by Sam Lambeth. Sam is a journalist and musician. More of his work for Louder Than War is available on his archive. You can find his music on Spotify.
Blossoms photos by Naomi Dryden-Smith | Nieve Ella photo by Trev Eales
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