Gig review: Blossoms at O2 Academy Leeds

Releasing their latest album Cool Like You last month, the band have shown to go from strength to strength, lyrically and musically. Their brand of catchy indie-pop songs with a heavy focus on synthesizers justifies the bands quick rise to fame after an albeit relatively short career in the music industry. Opening with the catchy There’s A Reason Why (I Never Returned Your Calls) the band wasted no time getting the highly energetic crowd on their feet, quickly flowing into Unfaithful before their single I Can’t Stand It with its upbeat tempo and dreamy synths kept the crowd energised. Frontman Tom Ogden kept words few and far between as he switched between guitars throughout the set, wasting little time as they hurried their way through their current catalogue. Working through both full length albums, playing songs such as Honey Sweet, Cool Like You and How Long Will This Last? kept the crowd heavily invested, singing along to all the choruses created a euphoric atmosphere which the band were getting behind. After playing a 15-song set, the band left the stage to rapturous applause, however Ogden stayed to play a solo acoustic rendition of My Favourite Room. It was a fitting way to end a run of songs in quick succession, bringing the fast-paced evening to a standstill, with people using their phone torch lights to create the classic lighter effect usually associated with slow-paced songs. The full band returned to play a three-song encore. Starting off with the ever popular At Most A Kiss from their self titled album, followed by Getaway, the band really hit the nail on the head leaving arguably their most popular song Charlemagne till the end. Loud sing along choruses from the crowd erupted around the Academy, sometimes struggling to hear Ogden’s vocals. One thing about Blossoms is arguably that they sound almost like the studio recordings. The level of professionalism on stage, the sound the whole band have created and the handle they all clearly have over their instruments really shines through. It’s hard to not be impressed by Ogden’s vocals and how they harmonise so well with Myles Kellock’s synthesizer. The lyrical content of love and heartache are a constant for the band and will resonate deeply amongst many of their fans. I expect Blossoms to hit target after target this year. Even bigger and better things are to come from this young band from Stockport.