Belfast indie-funk band Esmeralda Road will support Liam Gallagher at his Belfast Vital concert on August 16.
Fresh from the same support slot in Limerick, lead singer Charlie Magill told The Irish News it’s “a dream come true”.
“It’s pretty unbelievable. It’s an honour to represent the whole of Belfast up there and rub shoulders with the likes of Liam and Kasabian, and to do it on our own turf in the iconic Boucher Playing Fields is amazing.
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“I feel as though it’s a testament to how hard we’ve been working over the last two years as well. From our first gig in the Sunflower it’s always been all or nothing for us, and to have our efforts come to fruition in such a legendary way is really validating.”
After being noticed by MCD Promotions, Esmeralda Road were offered the chance to open up for Oasis legend Liam Gallagher in Limerick.
“We’d been told before that it was a possibility and even that had us freaking out,” said Charlie. “But right as we thought it wasn’t happening, we got the phone call and got straight to practising.
The support slot was in a 25,000 capacity stadium, but the boys didn’t let the nerves of the occasion fluster any excitement.
“It didn’t feel any different until we set up for soundcheck, and it was such a surreal experience getting to hear everything on such a huge sound system. It really did feel like we’d earned it though, and that everything we’d been doing until now had been leading up to something like this. It was a taster of what’s to come in the future and we’re buzzing for it.”
“The reception was like nothing we’d ever seen”, continued Charlie. “To be able to reach that many new people at once was a welcome first for us. It was one of the first times people were stopping us to ask for photos, which was a bit nuts. Everyone from home was so happy for us as well, it really felt like we were representing the Belfast scene on that stage, and I can’t wait to get to do it again.
The seven-piece band consists of frontman Charlie Magill, drummer Aodhan Moran, keyboardist Josh Vance, bassist Calvin Wells, guitarist Ben Murray, saxophonist Josh Baker and trumpeter Tony Cowan.
“We find it quite hard to categorise our music as we take inspiration from so many different genres and tend to hop between them, but the things that all of our tunes have in common are catchy melodies, jazzy chords and deep grooves. I may be biased in saying this, but I don’t think the lyrics are half bad either.”
As for plans for the rest of the year, Esmeralda Road are keeping steady heads as they hope to build on their early success.
“We’re in the process of finishing production on our debut EP scheduled for release in October and we’re really excited about it, it’s our most fully realised work to date and we think people will really resonate with it. We’re having a belter of a time writing new tunes, exploring our sound and bringing it to new places. We’re so grateful to be able to do what we love to do and it’s amazing that so many people resonate with it.”