Goodbyes are always hard, but as indie-folk quartet Stornoway left the stage on Saturday night, it really felt like the end of an era.
The group – famed for hits such as I Saw You Blink, Zorbing and Unfaithful – played at Manchester Academy over the weekend.
As the crowd filed out to a slideshow of the band’s 12 years together, it was clear that many were reflecting on their time with the musicians and the life events that they provided the soundtrack to.
For me, it was revising for my GCSEs with their 2010 debut album, Beachcomber’s Windowsill, in the background – but I was far from the only person present with such fond memories.
All through the concert there was an air of finality as the audience sang along with the men on stage.
This was coupled with an overwhelming feeling of love and fun which has followed Stornoway since they first appeared on stage in dressing gowns back in the mid-2000s.
The doubly-upgraded venue was a fitting farewell as 1500-strong turned out to support the band on the largest show of the tour.
The setlist for the night took fans on a great journey of the history of Stornoway, taking them all the way from their first song ever played on the radio, I Saw You Blink, to an unplugged rendition of Get Low from their final album, Bonxie.
It seemed many of the gig-goers – myself included – could have easily stayed a couple more hours to hear the group run through their complete back catalogue.
But following the final tune and subsequent cheers, it felt like a fitting end for the boys from Oxford.
This is especially true since they said goodbye after one final rendition of their 2009 song of the summer, Zorbing
Stornoway will be missed by many, that much is obvious.
