Viola Beach
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Viola Beach were an English
indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...
group formed in
Warrington Warrington () is an industrial town in the Borough of Warrington, borough of the same name in Cheshire, England. The town sits on the banks of the River Mersey and was Historic counties of England, historically part of Lancashire. It is east o ...
in 2013. The band's final line-up consisted of Kris Leonard (vocals, guitar), River Reeves (guitar), Tomas Lowe (bass), and Jack Dakin (drums). All four, along with their manager Craig Tarry, were killed during their first overseas tour when their car fell from a bridge in the Swedish city of
Södertälje Södertälje ( , ) is a Urban areas in Sweden, city in Stockholm County, Sweden and seat of Södertälje Municipality. It is also a part of Stockholm urban area, Greater Stockholm Metropolitan Area. As of 2020, it has 73,872 inhabitants. Södertà ...
on 13 February 2016. As of 2025, founding members Frankie Coulson (guitar) and Jonny Gibson (bass) are the last surviving members of the band. In the week following the crash, their single " Boys That Sing" entered the UK Singles Chart at No. 80 and their previous single " Swings & Waterslides" entered at No. 11 following a public campaign to boost sales. In the same week, "Swings & Waterslides" also entered at No. 3 on the sales-only chart (which excludes streaming data) and "Boys That Sing" entered at No. 27 on the same chart. On 29 July 2016, the self-titled album was posthumously released. It reached No. 1 on the
UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...
on 5 August 2016.


Career

Viola Beach formed in
Warrington Warrington () is an industrial town in the Borough of Warrington, borough of the same name in Cheshire, England. The town sits on the banks of the River Mersey and was Historic counties of England, historically part of Lancashire. It is east o ...
in May 2013, the original members being Kris Leonard (guitar and vocals), Frankie Coulson (guitar), Jonny Gibson (bass), and Jack Dakin (drums). The band's final line-up was formed when Coulson and Gibson opted to leave the band in 2015 in order to focus on their university studies, and were replaced by River Reeves (guitar) and Tomas Lowe (bass) respectively. By September of their formation year, their track "Daisies" was featured on Bandcamp's The Indie Cassette Player's (now known as The Mill Records) second compilation album, with "Love My Love" being featured on the website's third compilation album in October. The band's Twitter profile tweeted on 16 September 2013 "Daisies is being featured on @IndieCassPlayer compilation vol 2 this month which is dead lovely!" The band self-financed the recording of their first single, " Swings & Waterslides", releasing it on their own record label Fuller Beans. The track was produced by Ady Hall and Lee McCarthy of Sugar House and recorded at Catalyst Studios in St Helens. "Swings & Waterslides" was added to the
BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...
playlist in September 2015. The band were supported by '' BBC Introducing'', a platform for emerging musical talent, which described their songs as "infectious anthems" with "hints of slacker pop". They performed at the BBC Introducing Stage of the 2015
Reading and Leeds Festivals The Reading and Leeds Festivals are a pair of annual music festivals that take place in Reading and Leeds in England. The events take place simultaneously on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the August bank holiday weekend. The Reading Fest ...
. In November 2015, the band recorded a live session for BBC Radio 1. They released their second single, " Boys That Sing"/"Like a Fool", on the Communion label on 22 January 2016. On 17 June 2016, the band's self-titled debut album '' Viola Beach'' was announced for release on 29 July, to consist of nine tracks including " Boys That Sing" and a BBC session, and released on the band's own Fuller Beans Records label. The announcement was accompanied by a statement from the members' families. It reached No. 1 on the
UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...
on 5 August.


Influences

When asked about his musical influences, singer-guitarist Kris Leonard said, "I'm definitely not consciously influenced by anyone", but mentioned
the Coral The Coral are an English rock band, formed in 1996 in Hoylake on the Wirral Peninsula, Merseyside. The band emerged during the early 2000s. Their 2002 debut album ''The Coral (album), The Coral'', from which came the single "Dreaming of You (T ...
,
the Zutons The Zutons are an English indie rock band formed in Liverpool, in 2002. The band currently consists of Dave McCabe (vocals, guitar), Abi Harding (saxophone), Jay Lewis (guitar), Neil Bradley (keyboards) and Tim Cunningham (bass). The band's ...
,
the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...
and Hooton Tennis Club as being among his favourite
Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...
bands. He also said the Kooks' debut studio album '' Inside In/Inside Out'' played a big part in him becoming a musician. ''BBC Introducing'' recommended the band to fans of Coasts and the Kooks, while other critics drew comparisons with 1990s
Britpop Britpop was a mid-1990s United Kingdom, British-based music culture movement that emphasised Britishness. Musically, Britpop produced bright, catchy alternative rock, with significant influences from British guitar pop of the 1960s and 1970s. B ...
. Leonard told ''Wonderland'' magazine that much of the band's lyrical content was inspired by their "very grey and industrial" hometown, where there was "nothing to do other than drink cider and smoke rollies on a park and chase after girls".


Deaths

In the early hours of 13 February 2016, while driving in the Swedish city of
Södertälje Södertälje ( , ) is a Urban areas in Sweden, city in Stockholm County, Sweden and seat of Södertälje Municipality. It is also a part of Stockholm urban area, Greater Stockholm Metropolitan Area. As of 2020, it has 73,872 inhabitants. Södertà ...
, all four band members were killed alongside their manager Craig Tarry in a car accident on a
lift bridge A vertical-lift bridge or just lift bridge is a type of movable bridge in which a span rises vertically while remaining parallel with the deck. The vertical lift offers several benefits over other movable bridges such as the bascule and swi ...
along the E4 motorway. At around 2:00 am, witnesses saw the band's Nissan Qashqai clip a stationary vehicle, drive through closed barriers, and fall into the Södertälje Canal through a gap in a bridge whose middle section was being lifted to let an oil tanker pass. The band had played the previous day at the Where's the Music? Festival in
Norrköping Norrköping ( , ) is a city in the province of Östergötland in eastern Sweden and the seat of Norrköping Municipality, Östergötland County, about 160 km southwest of the national capital Stockholm, 40 km east of county seat Lin ...
and were returning to their hotel at
Arlanda Airport Stockholm Arlanda Airport is the main international airport serving Stockholm, the capital of Sweden. It is located in Sigtuna Municipality, north of Stockholm and nearly southeast of Uppsala. The airport is located within Stockholm County. ...
. The
Swedish Police Authority The Swedish Police Authority () is the national police, police force (''Polisen'') of Sweden. The first modern police force in Sweden was established in the mid-19th century, and the police remained in effect under Municipalities of Sweden, local ...
opened an inquiry. Among their initial findings was that the driver, whose identity was not revealed as Tarry until an inquest was held, had no traces of alcohol or drugs in his blood. It was also found that the car had braked before reaching the bridge, which, as the police stated, ruled out the possibility that Tarry had fallen asleep. However, the incident ultimately remained "completely inexplicable". In the United Kingdom, inquests into the deaths were opened and adjourned on 3 March at Warrington Coroner's Court by coroner Nicholas Rheinberg, who also released the bodies of the five men so their families could make funeral arrangements. In December 2016, Rheinberg recorded a verdict of "road traffic collision". It is believed that the band's bassist Tomas Lowe initially survived the impact and eventually drowned, while the others all died from head injuries inflicted by the impact. Following analysis of video from a traffic camera, Swedish police offered a description of the events. After the bridge barriers were lowered, two lorries were standing in the right-hand lane of the carriageway and two cars were standing in the left-hand lane, in front of the first set of barriers. The band's car arrived in the left lane, braked, and then swerved left, narrowly passing the first car before continuing. The driver in the front stationary car estimated the speed of the band's vehicle at . He said their vehicle then drove through both sets of barriers without braking. It subsequently struck the middle section of the bridge, which had been lifted by , and fell into the canal. It was suggested that the initial impact against the bridge may have been violent enough to cause the death of the car's occupants. The police concluded that Tarry acted intentionally. The inquest heard that the car's speed was .


Reactions

On 14 February, the day the news was announced, there was a round of applause for the band at the
Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...
match between
Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...
and Tottenham Hotspur. The band's manager Craig Tarry was a noted Manchester City supporter. Tributes were made at The Lounge, the club where they began their careers, and Warrington Town Hall flew its flag at half-mast in the week following their deaths. The band had been scheduled to support Blossoms on a tour of the UK and Ireland during February and March 2016, and to play at the
South by Southwest South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has conti ...
music festival in
Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...
in March 2016. Other scheduled appearances in 2016 included The Great Escape Festival and T in the Park. Viola Beach had also been booked to play at their hometown venues Pyramid in March and Parr Hall in October. A social media campaign was initiated by fans to get the band's single " Swings & Waterslides" to the top of the UK Singles Chart. The campaign later drew support from musicians
Liam Gallagher William John Paul Gallagher (born 21 September 1972) is an English singer and songwriter. He is the lead singer and co-founder of the rock band Oasis (band), Oasis and fronted the rock band Beady Eye from 2010 to 2014, before starting a succes ...
and
Ian Brown Ian George Brown (born 20 February 1963) is an English musician. He was the lead singer and the only continuous member of the alternative rock band the Stone Roses from their formation in 1983. Following the band's initial split in 1996, he be ...
, and the members of rock band Kasabian. The single appeared at No. 39 in the Official Chart Update published 15 February 2016, and climbed to No. 11 by the end of the week. On 18 February it had briefly reached No. 1 on the
iTunes iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...
chart. Following news of the band members' deaths, it was announced that all proceeds from their latest single would be donated to the families of the band members and of their manager. On 18 February Blossoms, who had performed with the band in
Leamington Spa Royal Leamington Spa, commonly known as Leamington Spa or simply LeamingtonEven more colloquially, also referred to as Lem or Leam (). (), is a spa town and civil parish in Warwickshire, England. Originally a small village called Leamington Pri ...
,
Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Staffordshire and Leicestershire to the north, Northamptonshire to the east, Ox ...
, two days before their deaths, announced they would play a recording of the Leamington concert at a gig in
Bournemouth Bournemouth ( ) is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary authority area, in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. At the 2021 census, the built-up area had a population of 196,455, making it the largest ...
that evening. They also planned to showcase the band's material on the tour where Viola Beach were scheduled to support them. On 2 April 2016, a tribute concert was staged at Warrington's Parr Hall, with performances by several of the band's friends and influences, including the Coral, the Courteeners, the Kooks, and Blossoms. The Zutons also made a "rare live appearance" at the event. The band had recorded songs for a five- or six-track EP, which was scheduled to be released in 2016. When asked about the possibility of further recordings being released, the band's agent was quoted as saying, "There's a lot of music, a lot of demos, a lot of amazing songs, and it'd be great if it got out, but at the moment, everybody's still grieving. We need to sit down and work out what we do with it." On 26 June 2016,
Coldplay Coldplay are a British Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1997. They consist of vocalist and pianist Chris Martin, guitarist Jonny Buckland, bassist Guy Berryman, drummer and percussionist Will Champion, and manager Phil Harvey (band m ...
, led by Chris Martin, paid tribute to Viola Beach at Glastonbury Festival 2016 during their set by covering the band's song " Boys That Sing" and encouraged fans to buy the single and "send it up the charts". A tribute was also scheduled into the first day of Leeds Festival 2016, with a short documentary originally heard on Radio 1 played on the TV screens of the main stage. On 13 February 2017, Arriva Buses launched five buses in the band's home town of
Warrington Warrington () is an industrial town in the Borough of Warrington, borough of the same name in Cheshire, England. The town sits on the banks of the River Mersey and was Historic counties of England, historically part of Lancashire. It is east o ...
, each vehicle bearing a picture of one of the band members and their manager. Arriva collaborated with the River Reeves Foundation, an organisation founded by Reeves' family, to produce the vehicles, one of which would be a mobile recording studio. In September 2017, Reeves' father, Ben Dunne, organised RivFest 17, a music event aimed at inspiring those with a talent for the arts to follow their dreams. The concert was held at Warrington's Priestley College on 2 September, and featured headline appearances by
Maxïmo Park Maxïmo Park are an English alternative rock band formed in 2000 in Newcastle upon Tyne. The band currently consists of Paul Smith (English singer), Paul Smith (lead vocals), Duncan Lloyd (guitar, bass, keyboards, backing vocals), and Tom Engli ...
and
Billy Bragg Stephen William Bragg (born 20 December 1957) is an English singer, songwriter, musician, author and political activist. His music blends elements of folk music, punk rock and protest songs, with lyrics that mostly span political or romantic th ...
. In February 2021, to mark the 5th anniversary of the incident, a group of Warrington-based musicians were invited to collaborate to record a cover version of Viola Beach's song Swings & Waterslides with all proceeds going to charities chosen by the band's families. The track was produced by Cal Bate, sound engineer for Viola Beach and Blossoms, along with WAM Warrington Music. The tribute featured contributions from members of A.V Club, Sienne, Uno Mas, Crawlers, The K's, Aligners, Filthy Tricks and The Zangwills. It was premiered on 5 February by Steve Lamacq on
BBC Radio 6 Music BBC Radio 6 Music is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It primarily plays a wide range of alternative music, from established and emerging artists and bands. In 2002 it was the first national music radio station t ...
and had further support on TV from '' BBC North West Tonight''. On 25 September 2021, a bronze
frieze In classical architecture, the frieze is the wide central section of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic order, Ionic or Corinthian order, Corinthian orders, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Patera (architecture), Paterae are also ...
in memory of the band was unveiled near Parr Hall in Warrington, whilst the Victoria Park-based festival Neighbourhood Weekender named a stage in their honour, with Retro Video Club and The Royston Club headlining the stage in 2022.


Members

Final line-up *Kris Leonard – lead vocals, guitar (2013–2016) *Jack Dakin – drums, occasional backing vocals (2013–2016) *River Reeves – guitar, backing vocals (2015–2016) *Tomas Lowe – bass (2015–2016) Former members *Frankie Coulson – guitar, backing vocals (2013–2015) *Jonny Gibson – bass (2013–2015)


Discography


Albums


Singles


References


External links


Viola Beach's page
at
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Viola Beach session
for '' BBC Introducing'' (video)
Live session
recorded for Daytrotter (audio)
Viola Beach Twitter profileViola Beach facebook profile
{{Authority control English indie rock groups English indie pop groups Rock music groups from Cheshire Musical groups established in 2013 Musical groups disestablished in 2016 Road incident deaths in Sweden 2016 in Sweden Södertälje English musical quartets Musicians from Warrington 2016 deaths 2013 establishments in England