Viola Beach Remembered At Warrington Parr Hall Memorial Concert

4 April 2016, 15:19 | Updated: 4 April 2016, 15:38

violabeach

Radio X spoke to The Kooks' Luke Pritchard about the gig's "beautiful atmosphere".

The Coral, Courteeners, The Kooks and Blossoms were among the acts who paid tribute to Viola Beach with a special concert at Warrington's Parr Hall on Saturday 2 April. 

Crowds gathered for the sold out show to commemorate the band and their manager Craig Tarry, who tragically lost their lives in a car accident in Sweden.

Speaking to Radio X ahead of the gig, The Kooks frontman Luke Pritchard said: “It's a beautiful atmosphere here.

"We didn’t know them particularly well but we had met before. For their families and stuff we want to try and give something good out of what’s happened and share our music with them.”

Asked about the vibe, the Seaside singer added: “It’s quite sixties, man. It’s kinda cool. Everyone’s running about and everyone’s sharing amps."

He concluded: “It is sad, but everyone’s trying to have a celebration of their short lives and that’s the feeling inside.”

Blossoms - who recently featured support from the young band - remembered them with an acoustic set.

Liam Fray - who was due to play alone - surprised the crowd, offering them a set with his Courteeners bandmates.

Fans brandished rainbow-coloured umbrellas in the crowd, which featured in one of the very few press pictures from the band.

Eliza and the Bear, The Vryll Society, The Strawberries and Psyblings, The Zutons and Hidden Charms also made appearances, as footage of the band and their live shows were displayed throughout the evening.

Taking to Twitter, The Kooks summed up the night with a post which read: "Emotional evening. Great music. Amazing people. A lot of love. Did the boys proud."

All proceeds from the event will go to the family of those who lost their lives.

Latest On Radio X

DMA's

VIDEO: What is DMA's Step Up The Morphine about?

Features

Robert Smith's Meltdown At Royal Festival Hall

Watch The Cure play a classic track live at Meltdown

The Cure

The crowd at Woodstock festival, August 2019

Woodstock at 50: 10 things you didn’t know about the legendary festival

Features

Foo Fighters' Dave Grohl plays Hurricane Festival 2019

WATCH: Foo Fighters’ Dave Grohl invites crowd surfing wheelchair user on stage at Sziget Festival 2019

Foo Fighters

Gary Lightbody tells the story behind Snow Patrol's Chasing Cars

WATCH: Snow Patrol's Gary Lightbody tells the story of Chasing Cars
Frances Bean Cobain in 2018

WATCH: Frances Bean Cobain covers Cat Stevens & Courtney Love dubs it "gorgeously perfect"

Nirvana