Hothouse Flowers + Guests

Hothouse Flowers play Brudenell Social Club on Sunday 8 November, with guests on the bill. They're an Irish group that blends traditional Irish music with soul, gospel and rock, and the set is built around that mix.

They started in 1985 when Liam Ó Maonlaí and Fiachna ó Braonáin began busking in Dublin as 'The Incomparable Benzini Brothers'. Peter O'Toole joined them soon after, and within a year they'd won a street-entertainer award. Rolling Stone called them 'the best unsigned band in Europe'. In 1986 Bono saw them on television and offered his support; their first single, 'Love Don't Work This Way', came out on U2's Mother Records and led to a deal with London Records. Their debut album People (1988) became the most successful debut in Irish history, reaching number one in Ireland and number two in the UK Albums Chart.

Fiachna, Liam and Peter are traditional musicians at heart, and their shows are shaped by more than thirty years of playing around the world, with no two nights the same. That's the thing about them: they're not a band that sticks to a fixed setlist. The set changes from night to night, so what you hear at Brudenell won't be exactly what they've played elsewhere on the tour.

Doors open at 19:30 at Brudenell Social Club, 33 Queens Rd, Leeds. Tickets are £37.50 in advance.