As the final curtain falls on 2017, The Amazons are undoubtedly one of the year’s biggest success stories in the world of breaking British rock bands. Their self-titled debut album smashed into the album charts at #8 when it was released in the summer, and it also landed two places higher on the vinyl album chart. They made a triumphant return to their hometown festival Reading when they played to a packedFestival Republic Stage, while their autumn headline tour was entirely sold-out in advance.
Now the quartet put the finishing touches to a triumphant year by sharing a new video for their debut album’s closing track ‘Palace’. The video juxtaposes live footage from their sold-out show at the O2 Kentish Town Forum with clips of frontman Matt Thomson performing the song in his garage. It encapsulates the band’s meteoric rise: songs which were written long before The Amazons made a name for themselves are now hollered back at them by a growing devoted fanbase.
The foundations for their success were set long before the year started. A Music Week survey demonstrated they were were the most hotly-tipped guitar band of 2017, notably by being listed in theBBC Music Sound of 2017 poll. They ticked off a rush of accomplishments – extensive Radio 1 support and a set at the Big Weekend, debut performances on ‘Later.. With Jools Holland’ and ‘SundayBrunch’, and a Live Lounge performance that included a reinvention of Dua Lipa’s ‘New Rules’ – in a year that their debut album cracked the charts.
The Amazons also made inroads towards making a name for themselves internationally too. Over the course of the year they toured Europe extensively,played their debut Stateside shows in New York andLos Angeles and even hit Japan for the Fuji Rock festival.
The Amazons are Matt Thomson (vocals/guitar), Chris Alderton (guitar), Elliot Briggs (bass) and Joe Emmett (drums). They’ve already announced details of their first tour of 2018:
February
1st – Birmingham, O2 Institute
2nd – Glasgow, Garage
3rd – Manchester, Albert Hall – SOLD OUT
8th – Cambridge, Junction 1
9th – Portsmouth, Pyramids
10th – Reading, The Hexagon