There were no shortage of New Years Eve options in Blackpool, of course, including a 1920s ball and several discos. Our writer, Stephen Dunstan, decided to do something a bit different and headed to Bootleg Social, where the Thursdays Fiasco EP launch was seeing out the old and bringing in the new.
First on was Lucas Williams, a teenage singer songwriter from Fleetwood. Lucas has performed at Bootleg several times now, and audience members who’ve seen him before attest to the rapid improvement in confidence he’s experienced. His act is reminiscent of Jake Bugg, and he did cover some of Jake’s stuff during his set. He’s an absorbing performer in his own right, but when you realise he’s only 14, it’s all the more impressive.
Next up were the Blackpool band, Coherent. This young four-piece have been together for a couple of years. Their varied musical influences include Oasis, The Stone Roses, Arctic Monkeys, Catfish and the Bottlemen, Joy Division, The Beatles and The Smiths. I felt their sound was at times rather in the mould of Green Day, which is no bad thing. Perhaps surprisingly they concluded with the Buzzcocks classic, ‘Ever Fallen In Love’.
Rounding off the night, in the hour before the countdown, were Thursdays Fiasco. Although it was nominally an EP launch party, ‘Tomorrow’s Not Disastrous’ has been out for a couple of months and some of the audience were clearly already familiar with it. I wasn’t (other than some brief Spotify sampling on the drive in), but I liked all the tracks. With three years behind them, they worked the audience well between tracks, in particular singer Brad playing off deadpan lead guitarist James. Particular highlight for me among the covers they did (in addition to the EP tracks), was the Franz Ferdinand hit ‘Take Me Out’.
So with three up-and-coming local acts, what was not to like? Although it was baltic as I made my back to the car, it was great to see young local acts performing with confidence and some panache.
Bootleg Social is having a small New Year break, but resumes with tribute acts The Total Stone Roses and Oaysis on Friday 16th January. Gridiron fans may also be interested in the Superbowl Watch Party on 8th February, with unlimited hotdogs and Budweisers during the game. You can check out what else they have in store for 2026, via their new booking platform here
