Culture 4 min read By Trevor Kendall
Tom Ogden Joins Niall Horan Onstage in Manchester for 'Charlemagne'
Blossoms frontman Tom Ogden made a surprise appearance at Niall Horan's Co-op Live show, performing the band's 2015 breakout hit 'Charlemagne' with the former One Direction star.
Niall Horan brought his Dinner Party Live On Tour to Manchester's Co-op Live on Thursday night, and the show featured an unexpected guest: Blossoms frontman Tom Ogden, who joined Horan onstage for a rendition of the band's breakout hit «Charlemagne».
Ogden appeared seven songs into Horan's set, and the pair traded vocals as the arena crowd sang the song back at them. «Charlemagne» was first released in 2015 and later opened Blossoms' self-titled debut album, which topped the UK chart in 2016.
The collaboration comes as Blossoms mark a decade since that debut. Last month, the band played an intimate show at Manchester's Deaf Institute to celebrate the album's 10th anniversary, performing it in full and opening with «Charlemagne» — a track they traditionally save for the end of their concerts. Reflecting on the song's staying power, Ogden said he believed it would still connect with listeners if it were released today, though he admitted the band might never have evolved beyond small venues if it had arrived at a different moment.
Blossoms are now preparing to release their sixth album, Songs From The Wedding Cake, on October 2. The record includes «Additional Driver», a collaboration with Declan McKenna that the two first performed together at the Deaf Institute show. After the release, the band will embark on their biggest headline tour to date, which includes two returns to Co-op Live on November 28 and December 11.
Horan's Manchester date formed part of the opening week of his Dinner Party Live On Tour, which began in Birmingham on Tuesday. The tour continues at Glasgow's OVO Hydro on Monday, followed by Sheffield's Utilita Arena and The O2 in London, before moving across Europe. The run is scheduled to conclude with two shows at Dublin's 3Arena on November 9 and 10, and a final date at Belfast's SSE Arena on November 15.
Earlier this year, Horan said he felt it would be doing his former band a disservice not to include some One Direction songs in his solo shows. «You want to play great songs, and I was in that band, so that's helpful», he said, adding that «Steal My Girl» had been «robbed of its day in the sun».
The Manchester appearance adds another chapter to the relationship between Horan and the British guitar-pop scene. Blossoms, formed in Stockport, have long been associated with the same Northern English musical lineage that produced the crowds filling Co-op Live for Horan's arena run. For Ogden, the guest spot offered a chance to revisit a song that helped define his band's early career in front of a hometown-adjacent audience.
With Songs From The Wedding Cake due next month and a major tour on the horizon, Blossoms are entering a busy stretch. The band's decision to open their anniversary show with «Charlemagne» rather than close with it suggests a willingness to rethink how their best-known material fits into a live set. Whether that approach carries over to the upcoming headline dates remains to be seen, but the song's reception in Manchester suggests it retains its pull.
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