Since the 60s, the North West of England has been at the forefront of this country’s musical exports. And sitting just outside of music capital Manchester- is the town of Wigan. Famous for pie eating contests and top kids telly puppet Hacker The Dog, the place is well and truly shaping up to be a place of musical wonder.
Not only was the town once home to the infamous Wigan Casino where clubbers across the country flocked in as part of the Northern Soul scene, but it also happens to be the hometown of Bittersweet brit-rockers The Verve, The Lathums & now The Lilacs, who’ve been gallivanting up and down the country the past couple of weeks, hitting a sold out Waterfront Studio in Norwich on the 10th April, alongside support acts Tom Hewitt and Eighty Eight Miles.
Hewitt is a singer songwriter from the East Midlands, whose set was met with the hustle & bustle of the studio bar as punters packed themselves in, listening to his dreamy indie pop. Whilst it was a shame the crowd was pretty sparse, those that did stop and support obliged to a bit of audience participation, “oohing” and “aahing” during an unreleased tune.
A band named after a Back To The Future reference is always going to be a bit retro- a bit rock & roll- and Eighty Eight Miles well and truly fit that bill. Having released their debut EP “Class Of ‘88” the very same day, their set was something of celebration, coupled with the support from a shouty superfan by the name of Nigel. Their sound is timeless- Frontwoman Ellie is like a hybrid of Jade Bird with the swagger of seventies glam rock goddess Suzi Quatro- “Hi” is an absolute stomper of a tune.
A pick n mix bag of banter and back to back bangers, The Lilacs have a laddish quality about them that transpires with those who make the trek to see them. Often being compared to acts like Courteeners and The Enemy, their songs tell stories of everyday life growing up in Britain: those drunken nights out in bars and pubs, the inevitable late night bus ride home and the collection of characters you meet along the way, some of which must’ve weaved their way into the crowd that night. “Who’s drinking tonight?” Frontman Ollie asks the audience, many of whom have definitely taken advantage of the spoons down the road. One pint sized woman (who seemed to be a few pints deep) pushed herself to the front slurring something incomprehensible to the band, creating the perfect introduction to “Act Your Age” and a lot of laughs.
Soon enough we’re hit with an acoustic break with Ollie alone on stage, bringing out a belting rendition of “Don’t Marry Her” by The Beautiful South, giving us lot the choice of changing the lyrics from “marry me” to “fuck me” (because us brits love an expletive- we went with the latter) and a more daring addition in the form of deep cut “That’s Not Me” from the bands first EP. What starts as a simple singalong- soon turns into a bit of a tongue twister. With lyrics so easy to stumble over, Norwich was the only date so far where he hadn’t- in his words- “fucked it up”. With their content crew all over it, the pressure was on.
It was towards the end where things really began to kick off. Whilst they gave a taster of their upcoming debut record “Keeping Up With The Joneses” with their newest track, “Girl Behind The Bar”, fan favourites like “Calling It A Night” had the crowd clapping and “You’re Not That Daft” was delivered with much enthusiasm on both ends, with its catchy chorus and knockout lyrics (“You swear your second cousin is Johnny Marr” is an absolute corker). The band’s most iconic track, “Grace”, is a future indie anthem made for festivals and with a spot on the Latitude lineup in July, we can only imagine the scenes in Henham Park this summer. Girls sharing a name with the song clamour for this to be dedicated to them, with the band always giving them their main character moment and the chorus about “the blonde haired girl in the bucket hat” had everyone singing and bouncing, with no talk of saving energy for their final song, “Vicarage Road”. Their first release- and a bit of a floor shaker- its pure raucousness really symbolises the band’s growth and their ability to turn a song with such a simple topic into a total shindig. They won’t be writing tunes about getting the bus home after work for much longer that’s for sure.
The Lilacs (Photo Credit: Grace Matthews)
Based in Norwich, Cerys Hubbard is a music journalist and history nerd whose passion for rock n roll began when she was named after Cerys Matthews.
A BIMM Brighton graduate, she founded Dead Pop Mag Society to revive the chaotic fun of 80s and 90s music journalism. Her work has led to appearances on BBC Radio and interviews with rising stars at Wild Paths Festival.
When she is not writing, Cerys works at Norwich Arts Centre, where she can be found putting up posters, pulling pints, and chatting about her favourite bands to anyone who will listen.
