Courteeners and The Coral were amongst the bands who united last night (April 2) to celebrate the life of Warrington band, Viola Beach, who were killed in a tragic traffic accident in Sweden in February.
The sold out tribute gig took place in Warrington Parr Hall – a venue the young band were set to have headlined last month and featured headline shows from The Coral and Courteeners, as well as acoustic sets from The Kooks and Blossoms. Also on the bill were Eliza and the Bear, The Strawberries, Hidden Charms, The Vryll Society and Psyblings.
Viola Beach frontman Kris Leonard, guitarist River Reeves, drummer Jack Dakwin, bassist Tomas Lowe and their manager Craig Tarry were all killed in the car accident in February.
Blossoms expressed their sadness in an interview with BBC Newsbeat prior the gig, with frontman Tom Ogden saying “There are just no words for what happened. It’s something we’ll never forget – it could have been us.”
Viola Beached had supported Blossoms on their tour around the time of their deaths.
Emotional evening. Great music. Amazing people. A lot of love. Did the boys proud. #ViolaBeach pic.twitter.com/wJdfzEa6yu
— The Kooks (@thekooksmusic) April 3, 2016
Last night was really special @Viola_Beach A huge thanks to everyone behind the scenes for working so hard to pull everything together…
— Liam Fray (@What_Liam_Said) April 3, 2016
All proceeds from the show will go to the families of Viola Beach and Tarry.