The Howlers are a two-man show but boast an aura capable of commanding the biggest of stages.
There is something about live music that transports you.
On a dark Sunday evening in Birkenhead, the pink-patterned windows are spattered with drops of rain and there looks to be little going on inside.
Step through one more door, though, and a 280-capacity room is full of people who have come to enjoy an hour of rock ‘n’ roll from The Howlers.
A good crowd have turned out to see the act on this stop of their UK tour.
After playing some of the biggest gigs of their careers last autumn – including a triumphant hometown show at Scala – their 2026 tour began at the Bodega in Nottingham and comprises 14 shows, including a night at King Tut’s in Glasgow.
It has taken the band a long time to reach this point, though, and the industry took its toll before they made a breakthrough.
Frontman Adam Young suffered two small stress-induced strokes in 2021, as a result of the pressures facing artists.
With the help of fellow musicians, The Howlers got back on the ladder with a lineup change and their 2024 debut album, What You’ve Got To Lose To Win It All, reached No. 14 in the charts.
Back in Birkenhead, they are sharing their self-described ‘desert rock’ to a captivated crowd who are up for it from the start.
You wouldn’t know it from the noise they make, but The Howlers are a two-man show made up of Young, a talented guitarist who has the rare quality of being able to play lead while singing, and drummer Toby Richards.
As the show opens the message is clear, The Howlers are loud and the stage is his.
Propped up by backing tracks, they go through their repertoire of songs, new and old.
If you were to describe their music to a newcomer, you would say it has an Arctic Monkeys feel that is complemented by western rock, sung by the voice of Paulo Nutini.
The drums are notable for carrying popular track Lady Luck, which has amassed almost 200,000 streams on Spotify alone.
There is then more of a 1960s guitar feel to On The Run (Over You), the subsequent track on their first album, while Further Down The Line takes inspiration from Alex Turner’s writing.
As mentioned, it has been a long journey for The Howlers to reach the point of a UK tour, but the success they have found now spreads beyond these borders.
Midway through the set, Young makes a point of thanking a female fan from Germany who is following them around by FlixBus.
As the gig comes to an end, they finish on El Dorado. It isn’t quite as rip-roaring in pace but enfuses the audience with easily memorable lyrics and a simple chorus hook.
The crowd filters out back into the rainy Birkenhead evening and the night is over. The Howlers are far from done, though.
Two days later, they are taking their act to a far larger venue in Glasgow, where they will play with the same aura that has given them a name in the indie rock world.
You can find tickets for the rest of The Howlers’ tour here and follow them here.
Mersey Music 