EVEN THE STARS TOP 10 ALBUMS OF 2024

 

It's that time to reveal our mostly unsurprising list of our top ten favourite albums of 2024

Blossoms - Manchester Diecast - 11th December 2024

Blossoms completed the most successful year of their career to date with a show at Diecast in Manchester sponsored by Spotify and Budweiser. Playing an hour set that spanned their four albums they delighted a crowd of hardcore fans and Instagram wannabes.

Blossoms / The Lottery Winners / The Guest List - Manchester Apollo - 23rd November 2024

Blossoms concluded their five-night stand of Manchester venues they'd headlined previously in their career with a final sold-out show at the Apollo, scene of their four-night residency in 2022. A captivated Saturday night audience dance and sung along to a mix of their greatest hits and tracks from their most recent number one album Gary. Support came from The Lottery Winners and The Guest List.

Blossoms / Neon Waltz / Delights - Manchester Ritz - 20th November 2024

Blossoms' five night stand of Manchester's mid-sized venues in support of their fourth number one album Gary. Performing tracks from across their career they brought the big arena show vibe to the intimate surroundings of the Ritz.

Blossoms - Stockport Plaza - 3rd November 2024

Blossoms played their traditional album launch hometown show at Stockport's grand Plaza on Sunday. Performing both matinee and evening sets which included their recent number one album Gary in full plus six classic tracks from their first three albums, they delighted two seated 1,300 crowds with a performance that demonstrated just how far they've come and how they've developed as showmen.

Blossoms / Inhaler / Shed Seven - Wythenshawe Park - 25th August 2024

Blossoms performed their biggest ever headline show on Sunday night as twenty five thousand people trekked from all corners of Greater Manchester and further afield to Wythenshawe Park to witness the band confirm their status as a band that can headline festivals and remind us of the depth of their back catalogue crammed full of the very best indie pop around.

Blossoms / Inspiral Carpets / Seb Lowe - Manchester Castlefield Bowl - 6th July 2023

Blossoms returned to the scene of their triumphant 2017 headline show at Castlefield Bowl that saw out the end of the era of their debut album for the first of two huge shows to mark the end of the Ribbon Around The Bomb era, their fourth album and third number one. Support came from old friends Inspiral Carpets and rising star Seb Lowe.

EVEN THE STARS ALBUMS OF 2022 - 5 to 1

2022 was a year that most of our favourite artists didn't release an album after last year's run of them. So our 2022 list is a little more varied than in previous years and features a lot of artists that go under the radar of most mainstream lists with a couple of exceptions. In this second post, we recall 10 to 6 before revealing our favourite five.

Blossoms / Brooke Combe - Manchester Apollo - 11th December 2022

Blossoms completed their sold-out four-night residency at Manchester Apollo and their twenty-three date sold out UK and Ireland tour on Sunday night with a hit-packed set that included a special guest appearance by Rick Astley who performed four classics from The Smiths to reprise their shows earlier in the year. Support came from the impressive Brooke Combe who stunned an already packed audience with her showstopping voice.

Blossoms - Manchester Apollo - 10th December 2022

The third night of Blossoms' four gig residency at the Apollo in Manchester always threatened to be overshadowed by the World Cup quarter final between England and France. However, the band lifted the deflated spirits of the audience with an hour and a half set of infectious, glorious songs that lifted the spirits and provided the communion that music provides that nothing else can.

Blossoms - Manchester Apollo - 9th December 2022

Blossoms' run of four consecutive sold out nights at Manchester Apollo continued on Friday with a hit-laden ninety minute set of crowd favourites from across their four albums and featured a guest appearance from Liam Fray of Courteeners.

Blossoms - Glasgow King Tut's Wah Wah Hut - 5th June 2022

Blossoms continued their promotional campaign for their third number one album Ribbon Around The Bomb with two intimate shows at Glasgow's King Tut's Wah Wah Hut on Sunday night. Performing two hour long sets of sixteen songs that were in effect greatest hits sets, they reminded us of the depth and quality of their back catalogue.

Blossoms - Stockport Plaza - 3rd May 2022

With their fourth album Ribbon Around The Bomb sitting at number one in the midweek charts, Blossoms continued their tradition of playing a special hometown show at the Plaza in Stockport to celebrate its release. Playing the album in full accompanied by a string section followed by a short set of some of their biggest singles to date they preceded the show with a special film soundtracked by the record and with some added drama of a fire evacuation to boot.

Blossoms - Manchester Band On The Wall - 30th April 2022

To celebrate the release of their fourth studio album Ribbon Around The Bomb Blossoms played two intimate shows at Manchester’s Band On The Wall on Saturday debuting songs from the album as well as running through old favourites from their first three records to an adoring crowd.

Blossoms - Ribbon Around The Bomb

Blossoms today release their fourth studio album Ribbon Around The Bomb. Our friends over at the Blossoms' fan account At Most One Tour kindly agreed to share their first thoughts on the record with us.

Blossoms / The Magic Gang / The Lathums - Manchester Arena - 18th September 2021

Eighteen months late, Blossoms make their triumphant first headline appearance at a sold out Manchester Arena with a set covering and celebrating their three albums to date and all the crowd favourites that have seen fans of all ages take them to their hearts. Support came from The Lathums and The Magic Gang.

Blossoms / The Lathums / Zuzu - Liverpool Sefton Park - 2nd May 2021

Live music returned at the weekend with Blossoms headlining a 5,000 capacity tent in Sefton Park in Liverpool alongside local heroine Zuzu and Wigan's up-and-coming The Lathums. Our friends Maarit and Harriet from the At Most One Tour Twitter account were among them and give a fan's eye perspective on the most important live show of the year.

EVEN THE STARS Top 25 Albums of 2020 - 5 to 1

And finally we reveal our five favourite albums of 2020, a strange year in pretty much every respect, but one that still managed to deliver some stunning new music to our ever-growing collections of albums. 

LIVESTREAM : Blossoms - Brixton Academy - 3rd December 2020

Back in March, Blossoms' biggest UK tour to date to celebrate their number one album Foolish Loving Spaces was cut off in its prime. Nine months on, they performed a live stream from on stage at Brixton Academy with songs taken primarily from that album.

Blossoms / Lloyd Griffith - Stockport Plaza - 11th February 2020

Blossoms made a triumphant homecoming to Stockport with their second number one album Foolish Loving Spaces in the bag for the first of two nights playing the album in full in the town where most of the songs that made it up were born. The evening started with a Super 8 film recorded by front man Tom Ogden documenting the writing and recording of the album and an hilarious twenty minute set from comedian and friend of the band Lloyd Griffith.