TAKE cover because Blitz Kids are about to storm Warrington.

The Nantwich alternative rockers are playing at the Asylum club night at The Venue in Barbauld Street on Friday, September 27.

Frontman Joe James told Weekend that he chose Warrington over Manchester or Liverpool because he knows what it is like for fans living in smaller towns.

He said: “I used to have to travel for an hour and a half to get to gigs in the city centre, but I would have been really stoked if my favourite bands played in Crewe or Nantwich.

“It’s really cool seeing you have all these fans in these areas that can be overlooked.”

The band have been out on the road on a headline tour since August which will be finishing in Warrington.

Then they are joining Welsh hard rockers The Blackout on their UK tour in October and November.

It is the first chance they have had to play some of their new songs, including single Run For Cover.

Joe added: “It’s awesome. We’ve wanted to play these new songs for a long time.

“Our crowd tends to be split in two. There’s the people at the front who go crazy, jumping, dancing and singing back every word to us.

“And then there’s those who take a step back who may have heard us on the radio and want to check us out.

“We always talk to anyone who comes up to us after the shows and it’s great when someone says they’ve seen us for the first time and really enjoyed it.”

Joe met bassist Nic Montgomery at The Berkeley Primary School in Wistaston, Crewe, where they bonded over their love of Star Wars.

It was also where Joe became inspired to be a musician.

He said: “I learnt the recorder and moved onto the saxophone and then drums. I was always curious about how music was made.

“It followed on from that really because I had such a good time.”

Joe then met guitarist Jono Yates through his parents and the trio all went to Brine Leas School in Nantwich.

The band was influenced by The Used, My Chemical Romance and Biffy Clyro.

But it was Glassjaw singer Daryl Palumbo’s decision to form a new band called Head Automatica that really inspired them.

“When that happened it opened my eyes to a lot more music,” Joe added. “It proved you could have pop influenced music with rock guitars.

“It was about that time that Hundred Reasons were getting big airplay and it was during that alternative rock uprising that I started being in a band.”

This year even saw Blitz Kids play to hundreds of metal heads at Download Festival in Donnington.

“It was definitely the highlight of our career as a band,” said Joe.

“If we’re honest we didn’t expect that many people to turn up, because we were playing in the morning so we were over the moon when people came out for us. There were a lot of hardcore Limp Bizkit fans in the crowd but we got them into it.

“We like a challenge.”

And Joe still remembers the moment all these dreams seemed possible after a chat with his dad.

He said: “After college I had a bunch of options on the table. My dad sat me down and was quite candid about it.

“He said I could do five things at 20 per cent or one thing at 100 per cent – so I chose singing.”

Blitz Kids perform at The Venue on September 27. Tickets are £5 from seetickets.com or ents24.com or £7 on the door.

Competition

Weekend magazine has teamed up with Warrington Music [WAM] to give away two pairs of tickets for Blitz Kids’ gig.

To enter the competition simply answer the question: Which film series did Joe James and Nic Montgomery bond over?

Send your answer and contact details by email to david.morgan@guardiangrp.co.uk with the title ‘Blitz Kids competition’ by noon on Monday, September 23.

Usual Newsquest terms and conditions apply, log onto newsquest.co.uk/terms for full details.