What’s On: The Manatees, The Loft, Southampton

NEW Forest band The Manatees will play The Loft in Southampton on Saturday 14th October, marking the final gig in their current UK tour.

Drawing inspiration from The Vaccines, Jamie T and Circa Waves, the indie popsters have built a loyal following for their relatable lyrics, driving rhythms and infectious melodies.

The band comprises James Miller (22) and Jay Harris (25) from Pennington, and Tyler Bloor (25) from New Milton. The trio, who have been playing together for seven years, have previously featured on Radio X’s main evening playlist, Steve Lamacq’s BBC6 Recommends show and Spotify’s ‘Hot New Bands’.

This year has been a busy one for the Manatees with their debut EP Dream in Colour chosen by Radio 1 DJ Jack Saunders as a new wave pick, leading to a Radio 1 interview and airplay. They also appeared at Milford Music Festival and on the BBC Introducing stage at the Ageas Bowl.

In June they played the Isle of Wight Festival, as James recalled: “We were asked to play the Isle of Wight Festival years ago – but I couldn’t do it because I was doing my GCSEs, so that was a really amazing experience to final go and perform.”

The band are now signed to Fierce Panda Records and are aiming to release their second EP in the new year. Their first single from the forthcoming EP Call You a Criminal, was released last week. The trio hope to sell out The Loft in Southampton on 14th October with tickets on sale now for £9.90.

James said: “It is the first time we have played Southampton for a couple of years so we’d love it to be a sell-out show. We played in absolutely awful weather at Milford Music Festival and still managed a crowd of around 600 – so we are hoping to fill The Loft.”

For tickets visit www.ents24.com/southampton-events/the-loft