Exclusive Interview and Review: We Had One More Chat with Only The Poets, On Their One More Night Tour!

If you’ve been around for a hot second, you know our love for indie-rock giants Only The Poets. It has been an incredible few years for this exploding Reading UK band, from supporting so many incredible artists on tour, to massive EP releases, festivals, a monumental record label signing, and international headline tours. It’s been a priviledge to watch this generationally-talented band achieve their dreams, while staying true to themselves and their fans. Whether it’s an EP review, a single celebration, or just a general feral fangirling moment, we will always ‘JUMP!’ at the chance to show Only The Poets some THP love! And if you think we were excited to attend their One More Night Tour concert in Manchester, you know we broke our legs running to interview OTP before the gig!

We popped along to Gorilla Manchester to chat to frontman Tommy Longhurst, and as we settled in at the venue’s upstairs bar, Tommy’s black and silver in-ear monitors still hanging around his neck, the feeling of OTP family has never been more felt. You know how some people just have a way of making others feel at ease? Yeah, that’s Only The Poets. This was a bucket list interview for The Honey POP! We’d love to take the opportunity to thank the OTP team, and especially to Tommy Longhurst for such a heartwarming and open chat. With all that being said, check out our interview with Only The Poets’ Tommy Longhurst below, as we talked all things touring, One More Night and better on the internet EP’s, bowling skills (or lack of), mental health advocacy, fan appreciation, and what’s next for the future of Only The Poets!

Stream One More Night – Deluxe, now!

Welcome to The Honey POP Tommy! We know you’ve just got back from Reading Festival and you have a packed day with soundchecks and a record signing before tonight’s show. We appreciate you sitting down with us to answer all of our burning questions!
You’re absolutely welcome! All good mate, all good!

The final leg of the One More Night Tour is underway and it’s the end of this era, as you’ve been saying on your socials! What’s it meant to you and what have been your highlights so far?
Wow, well firstly it’s definitely felt like the most special tour we’ve ever done. I think, with some of the venues we’ve played and I think we took a step up with like, the production, you know with the lights and everything. It’s an era that we’re really proud of and we’re very very excited about what’s to come. But yeah, I think, we’ll look back very fondly and miss this One More Night era. Because what I loved about this whole thing was when we decided to name the EP One More Night, that song is actually about looking back on time, at fond memories and being full of nostalgia, so it’s actually ended up becoming quite a full circle thing where like, actually, we will look back on this era very fondly, and it kinda represents what that song was about conceptually. It fell into place very naturally which is kind of why we thought it’d be good to name the tour after it. So yeah, it’s been a blast, it’s been an absolute blast. We’re very excited about tonight. We always have great shows in Manchester, and it’s sold out, so we’re very excited!

We’re gonna miss this era too!
Awwwww!

One More Night is one of the best bodies of work we’ve heard in a long time, we’re obsessed with it, it’s impeccable. Which is your favourite song to perform?
Hmmm, ‘All The Time?’ Probably? We actually haven’t… we actually didn’t play it on all of the tour. We’ve just started playing it for these UK shows and it’s been a breath of fresh air and I love it! And I think it’ll be a main stay for a while ‘cos it just feels quite unique and we don’t really have anything like it. And what’s been great about all those songs is like, at one point it [favorite song to play] was ‘One More Night,’ at one point it was ‘I Don’t Wanna Be Your Friend, and at one point it was ‘It’s Okay (Not To Be Okay),’ so it keeps changing, which is nice. Thank you for saying you love it!

It’s absolutely stunning! What about to listen to? What’s your fave to listen to, and do you listen to your own music?
I think… I do, but when something’s out there, because we’re constantly listening to things we’ve written recently and we have to critique it when we’re doing mix notes and actually being in the studio, you hear the song for 10 hours straight *giggles*, so it can start becoming a bit mind-numbing. But certainly when it goes on Spotify, I’ll have a few blasts in my car and it’s a really proud moment. You know, every time you release something into the world it’s terrifying but equally exciting. So yeah, I do listen occassionally!

What’s your fave to listen to when you do?
From the One More Night era? [THP: Yes, or any!] Ooh! I love ‘Crash!,’ always have done. It’s just a real… I think it’s underrated. I think it got slept on a bit! Not by the fans, the fans loved it. I mean, I think it’s just a really special tune that I love to play as well. [THP: “So justice for ‘Crash!’?] Yeah! And I’d say for the One More Night era, ‘One More Night’ the song feels like a real moment in the set and obviously naming the tour after it, yeah that feels special in it’s own right as well.

You just surprise dropped the Deluxe EP of One More Night! In fact, we planned these questions and had to come back and change it up because of the surprise drop! [Tommy: hahahaha, sorry! THP: Don’t be, we couldn’t think of a nicer reason to change the questions!]. The Deluxe EP features the previous vinyl exclusive ‘Black and Blue’ – a beautiful way to round off this era, and it’s bold to assume we can all handle an acoustic right now. What’s the story with ‘Black and Blue?‘
It’s all about kind of like, the feeling of moving on feeling so alien to you, because you’re so hurt by a previous relationship. I think it’s almost that idea that they probably think you’re doing okay but you’re not. It’s a real honest one, basically talking about how moving on isn’t easy. And the beautiful thing about music is it doesn’t necessarily need to be a romantic song. It’s all just about the breakdown of a relationship, like a lot of our songs are, navigating your way through love and loss and things like that. So yeah, I just think that reaction, the reaction of doing it on this whole run just made us think “we should give the fans this!” Because obviously everyone getting the physical product is amazing, and we wanted to give you a little nugget of something that’s a bit of a surprise and a bit of an exclusive, but it felt right to put that on [The Deluxe EP]. And obviously ‘I Don’t Wanna Be Your Friend – Acoustic’ is very different to the original song, so we sort of flipped it on its head. And ‘Gone By Now’ as well, fan favorite, we all love that tune, it worked really well acoustically, so we just wanted to give everyone a few more tunes before we cap of this end of an era.

You’re about to soundcheck with fans, and you’re doing games with those fans too, before tonight’s show. That to us just sums up the relationship you have with your fans. [Tommy: Yeah, it’s fun man!] As a fan owned and run publication, we strongly believe in the power of fans and clearly so does Only The Poets. What do your fans mean to you?
Oh, they are the absolute sole reason why we get to do this. So, just constantly reminding them of that and just, I mean people talk to me, people who aren’t in music, they’re like “oh you’re so engaged with your fans,” and we’re like, but that’s how… we know no different! Like, for us, that’s what we absolutely want to do, show our appreciation. Because without them, there is no Only The Poets. You know, what the fans always say is “Oh you’ve really helped us,” but like, what a lot of them probably don’t realise is they actually have helped us way more. The power of music and bringing us all together is beautiful. All we want to do is keep this family building and let’s hope we can do it. Yeah, you know, we just have a really special relationship and we wouldn’t change it for the world. We think more people should be like this. Because I do think some people kind of forget that at times, like, we will never do that. And also, all of the artists we’ve supported have shown the same level of appreciation. It feels like there’s a running theme there, people that are successful but have this real honest relationship with their fan base. We think that’s really great.

And to a degree, there’s also some shared fans between you and those artists too? Fans gravitate to artists and people who have that talent but also put out that energy and mutual respect.
Totally! Like, Louis Tomlinson was in one of the biggest boy bands in the world, and is SO greatful to his fans. We just did some shows with Dom (YungBlud), and it’s just the same level of appreciation. You know, it’s not why we do it but it’s just interesting isn’t it, that you can see that and go “Ahh that’s part of your success is looking after the people and remembering who got you where you are.” [THP: And fans always remember that appreciation too, we hold that close. Tommy: Yeah, totally!]

Our One More Night bias is ‘It’s Okay (Not To Be Okay)’ which is rooted in a topic you’ve always been very open about discussing in your music, which is mental health. Why does it matter to Only The Poets to put that into the world?
I think just, there was a phase when I was writing songs and I was having a bit of a bad time, and I like, kinda of was scared to be that open and honest in my songwriting. And we released ‘Waking In The Dark,’ which was a good while ago now, which is a similar kind of concept to that song. That moment and the way people took that song and told us that it was helping them, certainly suddenly I was like “this is how I need to be now, just be honest.” Because I’m an emotional guy, we all are, and we think like, we have a platform as artists to raise awareness for really important things. I think music is therapy to a lot of us. And songwriting for me, I was going through a rough time in that period, and I was like “I’m gonna write a song that I think people need to hear and want to hear.” It’s such a powerful moment in the set now, and I think it’s one of the proudest I’ve been of a tune. We always joke that ‘It’s Okay (Not To Be Okay)’ is the evolution to ‘Waking In The Dark.’ I think ‘Waking In The Dark’ is beautiful and I love it, but like, with ‘It’s Okay,’ we call it ‘Waking In The Dark’s’ big brother!

What relationship is it to ‘No More Lonely’ then?
Oooh I don’t know about that, that’s going way back!

You just dropped the better on the internet EP, which really feels like a gift between the fans and you. [Tommy: That’s exactly what it was!] What’s the story with this EP and were any of them debated to go on the One More Night EP?
Yes! They were! What it was, I can’t say too much because I want to keep it all a surprise, but we all sat down and were like, we want to do things differently moving forward, like sonically, musically, lyrically and everything. And we were like, we have all of these great songs, there was like 50 of them on a hard drive, and Marcus and Clem have worked on loads of them. So us and our manager were like, to cap this era off let’s just give the fans four songs out of nowhere. Everyone went crazy which we knew would happen! I loved it because we’ve never done a release like that. Just seeing the reaction. Those four songs were top of the list and I’m so glad that we did it, because we’re playing some of them now. We did Reading Festival yesterday and played it, and they feel like a bit of a step up, even these four. So we’re really striving to bigger and better things now. It just felt like they deserved to be out there!

Stream better on the internet, here, right now. Go!

Okay, so with Better On The Internet already feeling like a step up, is this EP maybe a hint of things to come?
Actually…. no, not really! Hahahahahaha! That’s the beautiful and interesting thing. And you probably thought I was about to go “Yeah!” but actually no! There’s a bit of an evolution there already, and maybe there’s dribs and drabs of it but certainly, it is about capping off this era. There’s some tunes in there, like ‘Indigo’ could have really lived on that body of work [One More Night EP], it’s like an indie tune. I love those four songs a lot and the reaction’s been amazing.

You’ve alluded quite excitingly (and stressfully), to the fact that things are about to change. Without saying anything you shouldn’t, please keep any secrets you need to keep… but what can you tell us about what’s next to come for Only The Poets?
We’re just thinking bigger! We’re thinking just, trying to not put us in any genre boxes. We’re being way more open with our songwriting and the production, and the shows are gonna be different. We just wanna like switch things up, is what i’m gonna say. And I’m really bad at giving things away, so I’m gonna have to stop talking! I’ll trip over myself!

Okay, quick fire round, first answers only, let’s go!

You’ve got to call a band member, but if they answer the call, you lose £10k. Who are you calling?
Clem.
Most competitive?
Me.
Who is most likely to be late to rehearsal?
Andrew.
Best post-show food?
Who cooks the best, or what is the best? Oh, we have wraps. We like making little wraps, chicken and salad wraps. Lovely!
Who is the best bowler?
Andrew.
Who is the worst bowler?
Clem.
If you had to swap places with anyone else on stage for the night, who are you swapping with?
Marcus.
And lastly…. This is never just band and fan, this is……
Errr…. Family?…… Can I say it? [THP: Yeah!] This is f**king family! Waheyyyy!

Show Time!

After our goodbyes and the obligatory selfie and hug, came show time! And what a show it was! Opening support act, scottish singer-songwriter Kerr Mercer brought all of the feels with his delectably rich vocals and moody reflective lyrics. We were also treated to a surprising cover of Sabrina Carpenter’s ‘Please, Please, Please,’ which got the crowd belting the chrous (in several interesting pitches…). A well needed and placed vocal warm-up prior to screaming along to OTP’s set! Mercer owned his opening-spot as a rising star, and with upcoming music releases planned, we’re excited to see what this young talent does next, including his headline gig in Manchester, in October!

Then came the main event, and as the red lights filled the stage and air as Only The Poets took to the stage, the vocalised support of their dedicated crowd roarered and ripped through the room. In fact, if this gig was a recipe, its ingredients would just say “Red Bull, tears and gravel.” The energy and emotion of Only The Poets’ music and lyrics, coupled with the concert production, insane instrumental talents of Marcus, Clem, Andrew (Roo), and Tommy, and their rock-fuelled vocals, had us jumping in the air and falling to our knees. A fitting reaction to what Tommy would later call “one of our favourite headline shows ever!”

Highlights of the night included the straight-out-of-the-gates opening ceiling raiser ‘Crash,’ which set the energy level for the entire night; and the stripped-back and sob-inducing ‘Black and Blue’ which saw Tommy and Clem leave the stage with nothing but an acoustic guitar, a microphone, and a dream; and join fans on the GA floor for a stunning performance surrounded by the love and warmth of fans and the star-freckled glow of their torches. An instrumental interval before our beloved ‘Even Hell’ saw Marcus, Roo and Clem shine with their respective instuments as they jammed around Marcus’ drumkit for a shining moment of their collective foundation of OTP’s sound. ‘All This Time’ delivered tenfold as a previously discussed “breath of fresh air,” and the sold-out audience matched Tommy’s vocal as if years of school assemblies had finally come into use!

Our first live experience of One More Night‘s title track left no question mark over the merit of this song’s position and weight on the EP, with it’s euphoric live sound and mirroring of our feelings of never wanting the night to end. Our own personal bias, ‘It’s Okay (Not To Be Okay)’ made certain there wasn’t a dry eye at THP or across the venue, and gave us everything we hoped for from this emotional reset of a tune.

Through every up-tempo number, Tommy’s hip-action left nothing behind as he bopped around the stage like Manager Sam had put new batteries in him. These weren’t the only times Tommy left fans squealing though – as previously alluded to during our chat, OTP sent fans into a tail spin as they shared that future new music was going to “flip Only The Poets on it’s f**king head,” which ensured the entire room lost its final collective braincell.

The last song before the encore served as instruction, as the crowd moved as one for the crescendo of the bouncy sweat-dripping demands of ‘JUMP!’ And of course, our babies ‘Ceasefire’ with its swaying twinkle of crowd torches, and ‘Emotional’ with its nostalgia, mosh pit and euphoria; ended our night in the perfect flavour of Only The Poets. An incredible night of OTP family unity came to an end as fans filed out of Gorilla Manchester with smiles, memories and ringing ears. Chants of “One More Night,” declared that the love and pride in Only The Poets is only going from strength to strength. We’ve been to many an Only The Poets gig, and we couldn’t agree more with the band, as we close this coverage of the One More Night tour and interview… it was our favourite OTP headline show ever too, and this certainly is… “Errr, family?”

Worried you’re going to miss them too much? You can still score tickets for One More Night in Bratislava, or tickets for the One More Fright Halloween show, in Rotterdam on October 30th!

Do you want even more Only The Poets reviews, news and general feral stanning? We’ve got you! Check out our ever growing OTP coverage, here!

Did you attend the One More Night Tour? Are you ready for the new era of Only The Poets? Do you want that chicken salad wrap recipe? Tell us it all on X at @thehoneypop or by visiting us on Facebook and Instagram.

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