Starsailor

Saturday 10 September 2022, 6:30pm - 10pm

The Waterfront

+ the howlers

14+ (under 16’s to be accompanied by an adult over 18)

Starsailor’s initial run of success saw both their ‘Love is Here’ debut album and the 2003 follow-up ‘Silence is Easy’hit #2 on the UK charts as they raced to a total of 3 million sales. After a five-year hiatus, the band reformed in 2014, enjoying triumphant festival performances at the Isle of Wight Festival (UK), Pentaport (Korea), Rock Zottegem (Belgium) to name a few as well as a UK tour with James (the band). 2015 saw them tour the UK, Europe, China, Korea, and a co-headline tour of the US and Canada with Embrace.

Starsailor burst onto the scene in 2001 when their single Fever earned them the title of "Britain's best new band". The band was formed at Wigan and Leigh Music College by music students James Walsh (vocals/guitar), James Stelfox (bass), and Ben Byrne (drums). Later saw the arrival of keyboardist Barry Westhead, who cemented their sound. In April 2000, after seeing their first London show (at the Heavenly Social) the NME wrote: "One live encounter was enough to convince many sceptics that here was a band who were genuinely special, blessed with a singer whose voice thrummed like an emotional telegraph wire, that swerved the pitfalls of indie melancholia and were clearly in love with rock 'n' roll and all its possibilities."

Their second single, Good Souls, reached the Top 20, and Alcoholic earned the band their first UK Top 10 hit. Their album Love Is Here reached Number Two in the UK Album Charts in October 2001, after receiving great critical acclaim. The year ended with the band winning the "Brightest New Hope" award at the NME Awards. “The whole thing was amazing”, laughs Walsh. “It was like being catapulted into a world of madness. There was no preparation for it at all”.

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