Saturday night saw The Hummingbirds return to their hometown of Liverpool for a huge sell-out concert at the O2 Academy after a busy year performing all over the UK.
The Hummingbirds, five sharply-dressed guys in their early twenties simply, belonged there. They were confident, charming and cracking jokes with their adoring fans.
The band are Jay Davies on vocals and lead guitar, Matty Brougham on rhythm guitar, Michael Kountis on lead guitar and backing vocals, Ryan Lewis on bass and Richard Smith on drums. They’ve have been together since early 2011 after meeting through school, college and a chance pub encounter.
Since then they’ve had three EPs and were even named ‘Ones to Watch’ at the 2012 Liverpool Music Awards.
They’re incredibly excited about launching their debut album in early 2015 after spending nearly a year in the studio. The album is set to be mostly brand new songs but there will be a few EP favourites in there too.
Kountis told JMU Journalism: “People have babies quicker than we’ve made the album, but now we’re so close to finishing it, we’re so excited to finally put it out there.”
The band agreed that the O2 Academy concert would be the biggest night of their life so far, and their dressing room had an air of nervousness prior to them taking to the stage.
“I spent nights here as a teenager, watching the likes of The Wombats and The Zutons. I can’t believe I’m going to be standing on a stage where some of my heroes have played,” Davies said.
The band class their sound as a modern take on country and folk music, citing their biggest influences as The Eagles and The Beatles.
“We definitely try and mix between the two bands, The Beagles should have been our name,” Kountis explained.
On stage, The Hummingbirds played a huge range, including the classic ‘Back In Liverpool’, EP hits ‘Out Of The Rain’, ‘Bankrupt Blues’ and ‘Emma’ and even squeezing in Eagles hit ‘Take It Easy’.
They ooze irresistible charm and charisma whilst still maintaining a strong bond and friendship and this shows when they bounce off each other on stage whilst having the time of their lives.
The Hummingbirds are set to be big news in 2015.