A question: What comes midway between New Order and Kasabian? The answer is, of course, Blossoms. At least they were sandwiched there on the playlist when Salford City smashed Ramsbottom 4-0 in the Evo-Stik League Northern Premier last week. Now there’s a mouthful! It doesn’t stop there though. A seamless transition has seen them catapulted from local fame in Stockport to regular appearances on match day playlists at the Etihad and Old Trafford. Essentially they are already playing to stadiums of up to 75,000 people. It doesn’t seem that remote of a possibility that they will be headlining their own stadium tours in the next few years.

So what’s the story so far? Well, they have already graced various festivals, including Reading and Leeds, and supported the Libertines at the MEN. They have been voted 4^th in Radio 1’s Sound of 2016 with an accomplished Live Lounge set for Clara Amfo at the end of January and a much praised WSTRN cover.

Blossoms are a great live act. The energy of those live performances comes through on the Blown Rose and Charlemagne EP’s and the new single At Most a Kiss. Likewise, the musicality, craft and production of the studio can be heard when they are pounding out songs on stage. In essence the musical energy you experience live is not too far removed from what you can buzz to when you are walking down your local high street with your headphones in. The only difference live is that hundreds of fellow devotees are bouncing up and down with you.

The thing with Blossoms, like their mates and support act, The Vryll Society, is that every member is a link in a chain that gives the band its own unique sound. Take one away and it would be incomplete. This is not just one of those bands with a pretentious, ostentatious frontman but it’s all about a down-to-earth group of mates who hang out together, have a laugh and make music. They are very much like Catfish and the Bottlemen in that respect.   The influences of Oasis, the Doors and the Arctic Monkeys are loosely evident but the Blossoms sound is the sound of nobody but Blossoms, with Tom Ogden’s strong, melodic vernacular interwoven with Myles Kellock’s Manzaresque keyboard riffs, Charlie Salt’s thumping bass which perfectly follows the groove, and the searing rock runs picked out by Josh Dewhurst. Joe Donovan’s driving beat keeping holds the whole thing together. It is not a collection of egos but a band of brothers.

So what about the Belfast crowd? Was I glad that I took the thirty-five minute bumpy flight from Liverpool to see them there? Of course. The Limelight in Belfast is a great venue to see bands up close and personal before they graduate to bigger stages and become dots on the horizon or pixelated holograms on a big screen. Viola Beach and the Vryll Society kicked things off brilliantly in their own unique and very different ways and I will review them in more detail later on in the tour. It’s a shame that this was an early evening gig and the place didn’t really fill up until just before Blossoms played. Those who arrived then missed the chance to see two acts that are widely tipped for great things in 2016.

Blossoms arrived stage left and took their places to rapturous applause from the over 18 audience. I am fairly confident that had this been an over-14 gig it would have sold out several times over, especially after the hype of the Radio 1 Live Lounge last week. It seemed bizarre that you could still buy a ticket on the door and I can’t help thinking that this might soon not be the case. It will obviously be different in other parts of the tour, with several venues, notably the Albert Hall in Manchester, already sold out. All three bands are from the North West and have the groundswell of local support, although the rest of the country is quickly catching on to them.

Blossoms’ set opened with the staple Cut Me and I’ll Bleed and was followed by current single At Most a Kiss, which had obviously drawn some of those present to the venue. Next was Smoke, with some rock riffing reminiscent of Jimmy Page. The songs followed thick and fast, punctuated only by frontman, Tom Ogden’s exhortations to applaud each band member for their own individual skill. There were two songs from the Charlemagne EP, Polka Dot Bones (featuring more searing guitar work and some military drumming) and Across the Moor. Radio 1’s Clara Amfo recently tweeted that this song reminded her of Chocolate by Kylie and the band immediately replied with a picture of Kylie as Charlene from Neighbours. Humour is a must! After old classics My Favourite Room and Blown Rose came the previous single Charlemagne. This probably received the biggest cheer of the night with an ensuing, raucous singalong from those present. They finished with Blow before disappearing into the Belfast night the way they had come in. It was a polished set and they can only go from strength to strength.

It is good to be able to catch all three bands for the price of one and it is incredible value for money at just over ten pounds. If the rest of the tour doesn’t sell out, try and catch them somewhere before one, or all of them, becomes really big. Then you will have no option but to get your tickets on a resale website for the same price I have just paid for a flight to Belfast, a purple bed in that famous chain of hotels-the ones Lenny Henry likes-and a gig ticket.

• Blossoms of Stockport played the Limelight, Belfast on 6 February 2016, supported by Viola Beach  of Warrington and the Vryll Society of Scouse.

• For tour dates with tickets still available see www.blossomsband.co.uk or go to Twitter @BlossomsBand

• The At Most a Kiss EP is out on February 18^th and available to pre-order.

• Their debut album has been recorded and is due for release this summer.

• Blossoms are: Tom Ogden (vocals/rhythm guitar) Myles Kellock (keyboards/backing vocals) Joe Donovan (drums) Charlie Salt (bass/ backing vocals) and Josh Dewhurst (lead guitar)

@Cre8ivation