THEY were the band that almost became the next big thing after being championed by Gary Barlow.

Now The Northern Tonic are giving it another shot after a 10 year break with the release of their comeback album, Late Night Whiskeys and Broken Biscuits.

The Orford six-piece are hoping to reconnect with old fans who will remember their glory days when the band, who were originally called The North, supported the likes of The Bluetones at Parr Hall.

Best mates Adam Bennet and Adam Barnett formed The North while they were at William Beamont High School in Orford together.

Inspired by Oasis and Shed Seven, they just played covers at first but things started moving fast when they began to write their own songs.

Adam Barnett, bassist and backing vocalist, said: “We started to get quite a large following to the point where we were working with Simon Moran at SJM Promotions.

“We were supporting the likes of Shed Seven and Wheatus and we ended getting a record deal with Native Records in Doncaster.”

The band then released their EP, Same Old Somebody, and ended up playing at the Parr Hall about five times sharing the stage with groups like Magnum and White Snake.

Adam added: “Who doesn’t want to play Parr Hall when you’re from Warrington? That’s what you aim for.

“We started out in The Stocks with Starsailor. We used to play there pretty much every other Saturday.

“But to walk onto the Parr Hall is your dream when you’re from Warrington.”

Other highlights included playing for Radio 1 at the Snowbombing festival in Switzerland, performing in Granada for a band documentary called Loose Change and winning a music competition at Chevys in Manchester Road.

But none of it was surreal as the moment Take That’s Gary Barlow told the indie rockers that he wanted to work with them.

Adam said: “I went to Gary Barlow’s house and posted my CD under his gate in Frodsham.

“I was working at Warrington Borough Council at the time and didn’t think anything was going to come of it.

“But we got this telephone call and he invited us down to his house at Delamere Manor.

“We met him and his business partner Eliot Kennedy. He was encouraging us to write more songs.

“It was surreal. Never in a million years did I think he’d ring me back. It’s one those things you can tell your grandchildren in years to come.”

Unfortunately it wasn’t to be.

Adam, dad of three to Ellis, nine, Mikey, nearly four, and Milah, one, said: “Gary said he would put us on tour but then he got back with Take That. So everyone’s morale went a bit and then we started having kids “We had other priorities and it wasn’t the same.”

Adam got a job with United Utilities but he continued to to work in the music industry on the side.

The 35-year-old kept in touch with Eliot Kennedy at Steelworks Studios in Sheffield.

Producing and writing songs for other artists, he used his experience to set up his own label, Melling Records.

He added: “I ended up writing a song for Max Restaino. He’s just released an album and he’s been on tour with Rebecca Ferguson.”

That is what inspired Adam to call his bandmates – and now he has his sights set on his biggest hometown venue again.

He said: “We’re hoping to do a one-off show at Parr Hall. We don’t want it to just be our show, we want to turn it into a mini festival with a few Warrington bands that are unsigned and would love to perform on a stage like that.

“I just think I’ve got the experience to put something like that together.”

Late Night Whiskeys and Broken Biscuits is available on iTunes