ONE of the rising stars of the second wave at Neighbourhood Weekender is over the moon to be taking to Victoria Park for the second year in a row.

This time, Red Rum Club will play the main stage on Saturday, May 28.

The fresh-sounding indie rock band are a six-piece band comprising vocalist Fran Doran, Tom Williams on guitar and backing vocals, so too is Michael McDermott, Simon Hepworth on bass, drummer Neil Lawson, and Joe Corby on the trumpet.

And the band join the likes of Manic Street Preachers, Razorlight, James Bay, Red Rum Club, Scouting for Girls and The Academic over the weekend.

Michael said: “For us to be doing this after last year, we are over the moon.

“We thought it would be a case of doing it last year and this year they would get someone else, but when we had the offer through, we were buzzing.

“We were sat there thinking ‘are we going to get on again this year?’

“Last year was unbelievable. It was one of the first festivals we did back and we were riding on a bit of euphoria to be back at the festivals but it was a special one.”

Michael, who was speaking ahead of a gig in Dunfermline last week, felt that the band are getting more light shone on them now.

He added: “We never felt unnoticed but we certainly feel we get a lot more of the plaudits at the moment and there is more of a spotlight on us.

“In those earlier, days it was still enjoyable.

“We live for it. We always did, it’s what we have wanted to do with our lives and with our mates.

“The things that we are doing now, we always knew we’d eventually get back to it during the pandemic.

“We said ‘if we get through the lockdown and we are still a band that people want to see or listen to, that’s a massive success.’

“It’s really exciting and the lads are also buzzing about the Miles Kane in the Neighbourhood Presents show at Parr Hall.”

Warrington Guardian: Music lovers pictured at Neighbourhood Weekender 2021 Music lovers pictured at Neighbourhood Weekender 2021

The Liverpudlian band, formerly a five-piece, teamed up with Joe, an old friend of Mike’s to help develop their sound in a chance meeting at the pub, a question they often get asked about.

Michael feels it is very important to have a separate element to stand out.

“We could feel ourselves being pigeon-holed in the earlier days with a conventional couple of guitars and lead vocal.

“We started writing differently and the sound of the band changed a bit. We suddenly created space for an orchestral instrument to come into the fold.

“I had no idea he played the trumpet, he said ‘you are winding me up, aren’t you? You know I play the trumpet, I’ve just finished university and I’m looking for something to do.’

“He seamlessly came into the fold and we were very lucky.”

The group, who have a US tour and UK tour coming up, have songs based around mental health and this is something that has challenged them too.

“It’s quite a complicated one for us," said Michael.

“There are six of us in the band and we have got a lot of crew that tour with us and everyone is equally important.

“We did around 23 dates on a long tour and when you are away for that long, things creep in sometimes.

“For us, it’s just a case of reading each other as we’ve known each other for a while now. You can tell when someone needs an arm around the shoulder or time to themselves.

“That kind of thing goes a long way when you have been away for that many days.

“In the early days, it was maybe something that we neglected when the pressure wasn’t on with the gigs and it’s something that everyone is more aware of as much now and we jumped on board with that as well.”

And if their music can help others, that is a win-win.

He continued: “A lot of the songs were about relationships and through lockdown and just before, we had a lot of people coming to us and how the gigs made them feel happy.

“This one fella said to us at one gig, ‘you’re not a band that I would close my eyes and listen to in my bedroom, but when you do a gig, the people in the room are all happy.'

“We took that on board, it’s something we are proud of and now we go out with the objective to make everyone happy and to provide something that people are getting through the week for or looking forward to.”