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If there was any doubt about it, Blossoms‘ new documentary proves they’re the nicest boys in the business. With plenty of Beatles-esque charisma on display – and not just because they’re also from up north – Blossoms: Back to Stockport tells the story of the band’s most special moment to date. They’d done Glastonbury, they’d travelled the world, but the most important gig of their life was the one that saw them come home to play Edgeley Park last summer.
Directed by Charlie Watts, a friend of the indie five-piece, the film follows Tom Ogden and the gang as they get ready for their show at Stockport’s biggest football stadium. We watch them in costume fittings, soundchecks, backstage and, of course, as they belt out hits to a massive crowd on the night.
Throughout, the film switches between sit-down interviews and archival footage from over the past seven years. There’s an intimacy to the band’s conversations, opening up about why it matters that they’re from Stockport, not nearby Manchester, and what this concert means to their town. Watts speaks to locals on multiple occasions, each bursting with pride, but he also finds a way to show that Blossoms have played bigger gigs, and still will. This isn’t a retrospective, focusing on the boys’ greatest hits. It doesn’t feel like a full stop, simply a pause – to celebrate what’s happened while looking to the future.
Some of the interviews with non-band members are quite emotional. Bassist Charlie Salt’s grandad chats to the camera – and his scenes are bound to tug at your heartstrings. He let the band rehearse in his house during the early days, and ended up introducing them on stage at Edgeley Park. If you don’t cry when he quotes Christmas classic A Wonderful Life, you probably will when he predicts Blossoms deserve to go “to the moon and back”. For longtime fans, it’s a generous treat – a chance to peek backstage at all the fun Blossoms have on tour. Considering our music-starved year so far, that feels like a real gift.
Details
- Director: Charlie Watts
- Starring: Josh Dewhurst, Joe Donovan, Myles Kellock
- Release date: November 8 (Amazon Prime Video, available for 24 hours on YouTube on November 7)
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