Today brought the tragic news that up and coming indie band Viola Beach had died in a car crash whilst in Sweden. Hailing from Liverpool, the group were meant to be touring with bands like Blossoms this year and playing gigs in the Brighton Concorde and even the BBC Introducing stage at SXSW, all potentially defining moments for the boys.

It came as a shock to the world of music and many bands have left their condolences for their friends and family: Peace, The Courteeners and Jack Garratt all took to twitter to pay their respect. As well as the band, their tour manager Craig Tarry was in the car that fell 80 feet off a bridge and into the canal. It is devastating to hear of such a tragedy especially as we have lost the likes of David Bowie, Lemmy and Glenn Frey in the past month. The band from Warrington released an ep last month featuring the tracks ‘Boys That Sing’ and ‘Like A Fool’, two very catchy songs and both great follow ups to their debut single ‘Swings and Waterslides’. These songs were not the only signals of their coming success – they were praised regularly from Radio 1 and DJs like Huw Stephens who highlighted the 4 piece as one of the rising stars to watch out for in 2016. This recognition then lead to the band recording a session in the famous Maida Vale studios in November 2015.

The band had just played a music festival in Sweden called ‘Where’s The Music’ in Norrköping and Psykofant, a 5 piece punk outfit, hailed their set: John Hugo said “they gave an amazing final performance”. Compared to the likes of The Beatles, there is no doubt that Viola Beach had a huge career ahead of them and although they’re lost, the band will never be forgotten among Liverpool’s thriving indie scene.

Respect goes out to the family and friends of Kris Leonard, 19, River Reeves, 19, Jack Dakin, 24, 27-year-old Tomas Lowe and Craig Tarry, 32.