Jack Dakin of Viola Beach performing in London in January 2016 (Photo: Alberto Pezzali for Live4ever Media)
The Coral, The Courteeners and Blossoms were among the bands playing Warrington Parr Hall last Saturday night (April 2nd), both remembering the tragically short career of Viola Beach and supporting their grieving families.
Kris Leonard, River Reeves, Tomas Lowe and Jack Dakin were all killed along with their manager Craig Tarry when the car they were travelling in crashed on a bridge in Sweden in the early hours of February 13th 2016, just after their first gig outside of the UK.
Upon the band’s return to the UK, they would have embarked on a tour of the UK supporting Blossoms, whose frontman Tom Ogden has told the BBC:
“We were in Guildford preparing for a gig. We were just waiting to go for tea and we got a call from our tour manager. It was kind of like Chinese whispers of what had happened. When we found out the details it was horrible, we didn’t say a word to each other.”