///ONE HOT SUMMER/// SELL OUT GORILLA HEADLINE/// THE FUTURE///
You cannot underestimate the power of music festivals; the passion, the energy and the burning excitement surrounding them all. This year we have been fortunate enough to perform at some of the country's finest events and it's been the journey of a lifetime.
From This Is Tomorrow in Newcastle to Liverpool Sound City, we began our summer by immersing ourselves in the culture of some of the great British cities. Venturing onwards to Kendal Calling, we then played one of the shows of our lives to a packed out House Party tent as part of the Bands F.C takeover. We even had friends join us onstage, in the form of Becki Fishwick and Rich Grooves, for a rendition of Gimme Shelter by The Rolling Stones.
Continuing north, we hit Scotland's Party At The Palace, a magical setting quite literally in the foreground of Linlithgow Palace! It was a great feeling to have travelled so far and to have fans of our own waiting to see us. Soon after, though, we were to return home and play a rousing set at Oldham's Cotton Clouds festival, only a stone's throw away from where we grew up! The tent was hammered with Dirty Laces t-shirts and it was an amazing welcoming.
We finished the summer circuit with a show at Bingley Weekender (Bingley not to be confused with Bradford by the way! As we learnt..). This turned out to be the perfect ending to our summer though, with hundreds of people flocking to the New Music Stage despite Billy Bragg and Miles Kane both ending and beginning their sets on the Main Stage!
Alongside these festival appearances, we played some incredible shows of our own; performing down in the big smoke for a Modern Age Music event and travelling to Scunthorpe for a support slot with The Illicits, promoted by the brilliant Tacheless Promotions, as well as The Lantern in Halifax with help from the amazing Loafers. We even put together an extremely special sold out gig at Jimmy's, Manchester with our Japanese friends, Taffy, who supported us as part of their UK tour.
The stand out moment of the year for us, however, had to be our SOLD OUT show at Gorilla!
This was something none of us could have pictured happening in such a short space of time, but something we are all equally extremely proud of, and thank all of those who bought a ticket and have supported us during our short lifespan as a band, and a huge thanks to From The Fields for believing in us and promoting the event.
And what a night it was! Starting with stand out sets from The Lathums and Riding The Low, followed by the one and only Mr. Clint Boon's (superb we have to say) DJ set, and then an introduction by our friend, BBC 6 Music's very own Chris Hawkins. The stage was set from that point onwards and all we had to do was deliver. It was hard to calm the nerves walking out there as the whole thing meant everything to us, but you lot in attendance made us feel so welcome and gave it back to us as much as we gave it to you on stage! It was a proper Rock 'N' Roll show which is everything we are about as a band, and it was the biggest dream turned reality, so we are just so grateful for the support and are looking forward to keeping the whole thing going!
That leads us to the future then... What's next? Well, we are writing away and developing new material which you will all hopefully be able to hear bits of towards the end of the year. We also still have a few more autumn festivals, having just played a great show at Stockport's Mercury Climbing and soon a slot at Manchester's Neighbourhood Festival and Off The Record in November.
We have a few surprises planned around Christmas time that you can look out for, one of which being a free show at Brudenell Social Club in Leeds as part of the Bands F.C and Dorothy exhibition, with special guest DJ and Premier League referee, Jon Moss!
As for next year, we have some huge things in the pipeline and it looks set to be another really exciting one for us. It's getting a little bit bigger every year which is a tantalising prospect and we can't wait to take what we've got to new and improved levels.