SOUTH Yorkshire indie stars The Sherlocks will play one of their biggest outdoor shows so far when they support Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds at this year’s Neighbourhood Weekender.

The festival date means the band will be one of the few acts to perform on the same stage as both Gallagher brothers after they toured with Liam in Europe in February and March.

They are also joining the former Oasis lead singer at his huge sold out solo show in Finsbury Park, London in June and have just announced their own headline gig at O2 Academy Liverpool on October 19.

But it’s not all rock and roll for The Sherlocks. When I spoke to drummer Brandon Crook, he had just finished vacuuming their van and was getting things ready for their second American tour.

"We may be in a band, but we still put a shift in” he laughed.

“In America, we’ll be driving thousands of miles, playing venues for the first time again and trying to win new fans over. It’s what it’s all about for us.”

In Britain, being one of the big names on line-ups like Neighbourhood Weekender shows how far band members Brandon, his brother and frontman Kiaran, lead guitarist Josh Davidson and his brother and bassist Andy have come since their first appearance in Warrington at Friar’s Court in 2013.

“Back then, we were lucky to be first on but now we’re moving up the main stages at festivals,” said Brandon.

“We have great fans in the north west so we’re looking forward to coming back again.”

Since those early days, the band of brothers have performed at hundreds of gigs and festivals across Britain, supported Kings of Leon in Sheffield and sold out the 3,500-capacity Manchester’s Victoria Warehouse in February.

Their first album, Live For The Moment, was a top six hit in August and become the biggest selling debut by a group in 2017.

And they have recently returned from touring Europe with Liam Gallagher.

Brandon said: “Believe or not, that was the first time we’ve ever supported someone else on a tour.

“Before that we’d only grafted by ourselves, building up fans at our own shows. There had been no leg up from anyone else.

“Now we’ve supported one of the biggest names in rock and roll history, a national treasure, which is mad for us.”

Brandon said they received some wise words while on tour.

He added: “Liam told us to keep doing what we’re doing, keep things real and honest, don’t go all American, stay with guitars and don’t lose what we already have.

“We all listened to him. Like us, he’s a northern lad who knows what music and hard work is all about.”

The Sherlocks are big Stone Roses fans too.

“We saw them at Heaton Park in 2012,” said Brandon.

“We know Ian Brown is a local so we’re hoping to bump into him at Neighbourhood Weekender this year.”

Unlike the Roses, the lads plan to release their second album sooner rather than later.

“We’ve 15 songs ready to record and Kiaran has another five he’s working on that could make the cut,” Brandon revealed.

“We can’t sit back because we’ve had a record in the top 10. In some ways, we’re still underdogs, even insurgents, to some people in the music business, so we have to keep working. We never stop.”

RICHARD DERBYSHIRE

The Sherlocks will be playing the main stage at Neighbourhood Weekender on Sunday.