Feature
Feature
Blossoms’ wonderful Wythenshawe Park show proved they’re ready to headline the big leagues
Danny Jones
Ok, full disclosure: as a fellow Stopfordian, this review was always going to be heavily biased, but I still wholeheartedly believe that Blossoms are some the best performers on the British music scene right now and, as far I’m concerned, their Wythenshawe Park gig was yet more proof of that.
The landmark show was their biggest to date with roughly 30,000 people packed into a Greater Manchester field for what was just the second year of the Wythenshawe Park gigs which looks destined to be a must-visit annual Manchester music event.
For starters, not only is being the second name chosen to headline this still relatively new event after Noel bloody Gallagher quite the achievement, but playing to what felt like an entire town full of people on your home turf is the kind of stuff usually reserved for, you know, GOATs…
Now, we’re not going to be so bold as to claim they’re at that point in their careers already, however, when you’re collecting the kind of support acts they are, playing to crowds this big and making music lovers of all ages sing about a giant fibreglass gorilla called Gary, you’re clearly doing something right.
🚨 Be advised: GMP are on the lookout for an eight-foot fibreglass Gorilla – first name Gary, second name trouble. 🦍
— The Manc (@TheMancUK) August 26, 2024
He was last spotted on stage as @BlossomsBand were playing absolute bangers at Wythenshawe Park.
Be on the lookout… 🕵️♂️#LiveFromWythenshawePark pic.twitter.com/DEhYgebc4S
Let’s kick off with the supports, shall we? That’s one of the best things about this Live From Wythenshawe Park series: these dates are closer to mini-Manc festivals than they are standalone gigs, and with such an impressive roster of so-called ‘warm-up’ acts, we were truly spoiled rotten.
From more fledgling artists like The Guestlist and Ttrruuces, fast-rising up-and-comers like Seb Lowe and The K’s, to UK veterans like Shed Seven and the always sensational indie stars Inhaler, it was a stacked lineup spanning several generations.
Before Inhaler got the crowd bouncing and ready from Blossoms, we even got special appearances from two incredible female voices during Shed Seven’s set as Issy Ferris and fellow Manc music royalty Rowetta took the stage for some supreme harmonies and what felt like a bit of a Sunday service moment.
But then it was time for the big guns and it really does feel like they’re among that calibre now. They’ve smashed Leeds, Glastonbury, Kendal – they even turned the Plaza and Edgeley Park back in Stockport into fully-fledged music venues – and they look more at home than ever on the big stages.
![](https://themanc.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/tom-900x1600.jpg)
![](https://themanc.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/gary-the-gorilla-blossoms-1200x1600.jpg)
It feels mad to think that these lot have been going for 11 years when you first think about it, but when you actually sit back and look at the regular stream of top-quality indie bangers they’ve been putting out every couple of years, it starts to click into place.
Perhaps it’s because they’re still young men and have decades of releasing new music to come but they’re no longer the new kids and they haven’t been for ages – in fact, they’ve released some of the most popular contemporary releases in the genre consistently for a long time now.
Even in the final promo for their now landmark Wythenshawe Park concert, they did a spoof version of ‘Gary’ where one of the lines simply said ‘Honey Sweet’s a tune’ and, you know what, they’re right but the list goes much further than that.
‘Getaway’, ‘There’s A Reason Why’, ‘I Can’t Stand It’, ‘Your Girlfriend’, ‘What Can I Say After I’m Sorry?’ and on and on it goes. We heard them all in their very best iterations, with the band’s on-stage production now at a new level and Tom Ogden’s frontman chops up their with the best right now.
One thing we really enjoyed as a group of old mates from SK was that the set wasn’t the hits either; we got to roll back the years and enjoy the tracks from that debut album when we first started getting excited about a new band coming out of our hometown.
The big extended versions of ‘Blow’ and ‘Cut Me and I’ll Bleed’, in particular, felt rather special.
![](https://themanc.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/blossoms-review-2024-1600x1200.jpg)
But then you look at where the style has gone since then and you genuinely have to just step back and applaud their evolution since that breakout record.
It’s very hard for any band to find that balance of developing their sound and actually changing whilst still managing to nail that instantly recognisable feeling that lets you know it’s one of their songs but they always seem to manage.
Whether it’s those surviving 80s influences that have stood them in good stead since the start, those poppy keyboard riffs from Myles that help keep every tune as catchy as the last, they can collaborate with the likes of Jungle and CMAT whilst still sounding unmistakably like themselves. It’s quite the skill.
That’s why they very quickly went from the one current band from Stockport that people could name to one of the most recognisable modern names in British music with hordes of fans all over, not just Greater Manchester. Just look at the energy coming off that crowd, not to mention the sheer size of it:
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Now, all that is simply to say that, at this point, if you’re still someone who only knows ‘that first one’ and is under the presumption that Blossoms are another indie band who fell into that trap of all their songs sounding pretty similar, you’re wrong and the sea of fans at Wythenshawe Park will tell you the same.
Whether you’ve been there from day one and have watched these lads, well, blossom into fully graduated performers and festival-toppers like this currently very sappy Stopfordian, or you got hooked after dozenth irresistible indie anthem, we’re sure you’re all in agreement: they’re proper headliners.
‘Charlemagne’ will forever be a favourite but make no mistake, they’ve come on leaps and bounds in every department since it helped launch their career, and even if it is still their biggest song when they’re headlining the likes of Glasto one day (you heard us), it’ll still sound incredible.
In fact, who cares: here it is from another angle – we’re off to do a bit of research about some reunion people are talking about…
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Featured Images — The Manc Group
Feature
The incredible history of Sinclair’s Oyster Bar in Manchester
Harry Quick
Great pubs all share a few key ingredients that make them a town or city’s favourite drinking den. A good selection of pints, an atmosphere that represents its community and maybe even a 300-year historical timeline of surviving world wars, terror attacks and a complete rebuild from the foundations up… Oh wait, that might just be the one pub.
Now, if you’re a fan of boozers with old-school traditional values and a complex history, Sinclair’s Oyster Bar is the time capsule of a watering hole for you. Tracing its roots back to 1720, this Grade II listed building was a Tudor institution, and it’s fair to say it has stood the test of time.
The half-timber structure has had its fair share of career changes over Manchester’s evolving generations. Nowadays we pop in for a pint, your great-grandfather might have got his cuffs altered and his great-grandfather would have picked up his pork chops for tea – straight off the pig.
Alongside The Old Wellington Inn next door, this area was known as ‘Shambles Square’, originally used as a middle-aged butcher shop where live animals were slaughtered and sold on the spot, pretty grim.
It later became a drapers shop selling fabrics for local tailors, but you’d do well to find a fitted suit in here these days and the closest you’d come is the Arndale over the road – which funnily enough is where the pair of pubs both used to stand.
As an industrial hub, this part of Manchester was heavily targeted by German bombing in WWII, and in 1941 weathered over 450 tonnes of bombs over two days during the ‘Christmas Blitz’ creating one of the biggest mass blazes the country has seen since The Great Fire of London in 1666. 272 tonnes of bombs were dropped on the first night and 195 the following evening making Manchester the 11th most targeted area in Britain. But it would take more than the Luftwaffe to bring Sinclair’s Oyster Bar to the ground.
![Sinclair's Oyster Bar in Manchester has a fascinating 300-year-old history. Credit: The Manc Group](https://themanc.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/sinclairs-oyster-bar-200824-DH-the-manc-group-8-scaled.jpg)
![Sinclair's Oyster Bar is full of history. Credit: The Manc Group](https://themanc.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/sinclairs-oyster-bar-200824-DH-the-manc-group-3-scaled.jpg)
![Sinclair's stairs - which would have previously been in situ across town](https://themanc.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/sinclairs-oyster-bar-200824-DH-the-manc-group-4-scaled.jpg)
The area around it was eventually rebuilt in the 70s and is covered by modern buildings we see today, but the tale of survival added another storyline just before the turn of the century. In 1996, the buildings survived a 3000-pound IRA bomb that tore through nearby Corporation Street. With it formally being nestled amongst thick concrete buildings and its ‘built to last’ foundations, the historic little plot only succumbed to minimal damage.
This close call resulted in Sinclair’s and the Old Wellington needing a new permanent home. It doesn’t sound like the easiest feat to move a group of 300-year-old buildings a stone’s throw across a bustling city centre but when it’s worth it – it is worth it.
The plan was proposed by civil engineer Martin Stockley and architect Ian Simpson to raise the buildings on 15-foot stilts, move them 300 meters and angle them 180 degrees to form the new square in the shadow of Manchester Cathedral.
To add a little bit of necessary complexity to the manoeuvre, the 18th-century structures had to be dismantled into over 10,000 separate parts before being photographed, labelled and meticulously reassembled over a painstaking 11-month period. It sounds like a really tedious LEGO set but for industry professionals, just imagine the feeling of putting that last piece in.
![These days Sinclair's Oyster Bar is a 'Digital Detox' pub where phones aren't allowed.](https://themanc.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/sinclairs-oyster-bar-200824-DH-the-manc-group-5-scaled.jpg)
![Sinclair's Oyster Bar still does a VERY cheap pint for Manchester. Credit: The Manc Group](https://themanc.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/sinclairs-oyster-bar-200824-DH-the-manc-group-6-scaled.jpg)
Sinclair’s and The Old Wellington have slotted in nicely in the modern day with their distinctive architecture cutting through the monotony of the glass and sandstone surroundings.
Now, the architecture is all well and good but setting foot inside these days we’re here for the pints. This Sam Smiths pub serves up a humble selection of beers and stouts at the best prices. You won’t find a Stella Artois, a Madri or some Jungle Juice Pale IPA in here, just traditional British-brewed lager.
It boasts one of the cheapest beers in town at around £3.50 with one of the best beer gardens about – which is frequented by football fans, first-time visitors and locals alike.
The boozers uphold the values of old with its proud ‘digital detox’ slogan encouraging its inhabitants to keep their phones in their pockets and have a chin wag over a Taddy Lager and a pack of dry roasted nuts.
Just how it used to be!
Read more
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You can watch our full Short Stuff episode on the history of Sinclair’s Oyster Bar here, or below.
Featured image: The Manc Group