Co Down band Lemonade Shoelace are still on cloud nine after flying off to Mexico City to share a stage with pop smash Yungblud in front of 1,500 fans.
The gig, which was organised by shoe brand Vans, followed a competition where musicians from across the world submitted their tracks to win a support slot for the English singer-songwriter.
Out of the thousands of entries Lemonade Shoelace, fronted by Ruairí Richman from Newcastle in Co Down, triumphed. However, with the gig having been pushed back to March due to the pandemic, it seemed the opportunity might have gone.
Ruairi said: “We were supposed to be doing the Yungblud performance in Mexico in January, it was postponed and we didn’t know if it was going to be cancelled or not.
"Eventually a date was set for March 26 and we were still like, ‘Is it gonna happen, is it not?’ It wasn’t really until the flights were booked and we had our suitcases packed that we actually knew it was gonna happen."
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On the day of the gig itself, Ruairi had a taste of the intense Yungblud mania for himself. He added: "A lot of his fans had heard the music, a lot of them recognised me because they had posters of me up around Mexico – obviously with a bucket hat and shades on. Nothing that you get in Belfast.
"There was even girls outside in the queue who when they saw me they burst into tears going ‘I love you’, I love you’, so I can’t imagine what it’d be like for Yungblud.
“I was so happy to go first because the whole crowd went absolutely nuts when they heard the drums. What happened was I’d walked out, I had this alien mask. I walked out in this alien mask and everyone was like ‘Oh my God! Who is that’.
“It felt amazing, I don’t think I’m gonna feel like that again for a while. There wouldn’t be a show in Belfast which would have the same reaction because for a lot of the people there it was there first gig coming out of lockdown which is kind of mad that the first thing they saw was me walking out on stage with this alien mask.
“We met Yungblud a few times, we met him first in the hotel, he just walked in and I didn’t who was coming in and he just came up to us and was like, ‘Yoo lads, what's the craic? He’s very dead on, he’s down to earth.
“A lot of the advice he was giving us was get ready for this kinda experience. He was telling us that the Mexican fans especially, that’s the craziest fans he’s ever seen."
It was back home and down to earth but with an unforgettable experience which has only spurred Ruairi to reach his next milestone.
He said: “We’ve come a long way as a band so to see the crowd react in such a positive way is amazing for me. Especially because these songs were recorded years ago and to see it payoff is very humbling."
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