Blossoms at Rock City – Nottingham 23/10/24

The venue was packed before the support act took to the stage. Great exposure for Red Rum Club with some floor stomping songs including Would You Rather Be Lonely and Vanilla. The Scouse outfit were ireally enjoyable, a band that have crept into my playlist of late but I hadn’t yet seen live until tonight.

Onto the main event and in the lead up to the Blossoms taking the stage, there were some banging interlude tunes to keep the crowd warm including Not Nineteen Forever, Mr Brightside and Cigarettes and Alcohol.

Tom and the band took to the stage and instantly rattled into Your Girlfriend.

Tom addressed the crowd for the first time by declaring “We are Blossoms from Stockport.” To be fair, they needed little introduction as they then played new single Perfect Me.

The jacket came off halfway through Oh No (I Think I’m in Love) as the temperatures in Rock City crept up. The crowd were singing along and waving arms throughout. A crutch decorated in fairy lights also caught the eye – don’t ask!

Stop! A moment of pause which is often unstated during a band’s performance, really demonstrated just how tight and choreographed the set is.

Tom then told a tale of when they first played Nottingham, at the Chameleon Cafe some 10 years ago. If tonight’s performance is anything to go by, you can definitely see the experience and oozing confidence of all the band members who really seemed to be enjoying themselves. And so too were the crowd.

There was a monologue before the song Big star, and the set went down a gear for a song dedicated to the Mothers. Then came The Keeper, a personal favourite of mine.

Some artists often get backlash for limited or no crowd interaction, but Tom has the right balance.
A short story followed where Tom spoke of passing his driving test and having the car radio on about an escaped gorilla (if you know, you know) by way of introducing the song Gary.

Unless I am mistaken, Gary himself didn’t make the trip. His fibreglass heart must have needed some rest as the Blossoms continue to embark on their UK tour. I’m not sure Rock City stage is quite big enough. After all, the Blossoms were joined on stage throughout by an additional guitarist and female backing singer.

The hits flowed and there were some instrumental and vocal intercepts of classics ‘You’re gorgeous’ by Babybird and ‘Half the the World’ made famous by the BBC sitcom The Royle Family. This disguised a brief interlude ahead of the anticipated encore with fans continuing to sing Noel Gallagher’s words as the lights dimmed and Blossoms departed the stage.

On their return, Nightclub was played before Tom declared “We’ve room for 2 more songs everybody!”
Crowd favourites There’s a reason Why and Charlemagne closed a perfect set.

The Blossoms were blooming marvellous!

Review and photos by Lee Francis