A rock-pop band with firm roots in Scunthorpe have spoken of their shock as their song could be heard by hundreds of millions of viewers tuning in to watch the Super Bowl next weekend.
Unsigned band Gathering of Strangers – whose two guitarists, Tom Wingate and Andre Ilkiw, were born and bred in Scunthorpe – decided to contact American Football team San Francisco 49ers to promote their song ‘RED & GOLD’, due to the team playing in the same colours and one of their nicknames being ‘The Red and Gold’.
Amazingly, the San Francisco 49ers got back to the band and expressed their love for the song – so much so that it is now regularly played during the team’s home games at the Levi’s Stadium in California, to an audience of up to 70,000 people.
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When the band heard the team had made the iconic Super Bowl – which had more than 100 million viewers around the world last year – they said the idea of their song being played at such a monumental event felt “out of this world”.
Speaking to Scunthorpe Live, they said: “It’s a very surreal feeling that still doesn’t feel quite real. To think that 70,000 people have been listening to it at Levi’s Stadium every week really does blow our minds, so the idea that it could be played at The Super Bowl is completely out of this world.
“Never in our wildest dreams would we think something like this would happen to us. All it takes it that one person to take a chance with you and luckily for us it was an incredible NFL team.
“The San Francisco 49ers have been incredibly supportive of our song RED & GOLD and the band. Receiving fans from across the pond is incredible to see. The UK 49ers Faithful group has also been amazingly supportive as they use it now across all their social media and YouTube.
“All our fans over our social media have been so incredible too. Their praise and support every step of the way means the world to us. Getting to play RED & GOLD live is always now so electric. People love it and it’s unbelievable to see.”
The San Francisco 49ers will play against the Kansas City Chiefs – whose tight end Travis Kelce is famously dating Taylor Swift – on Sunday, February 11 at 11.30pm UK time.
Gathering of Strangers formed after meeting at the University of Manchester in 2018. Tom and Andre now live and work full-time in Scunthorpe, whilst performing with Gathering of Strangers in their spare time.
Speaking of how they formed, they said: “Gathering of Strangers met at uni in Manchester. Because of its history and famous music scene we each knew it would be the perfect place to study music at. When meeting and connecting over the same bands and musical interests we decided to play a cover together to see if we gelled well as a band.
“As that was a success we continued together and the rest is history. We now play gigs all across the UK, selling out shows and playing new cities every year.”
To listen to the song RED & GOLD, you can do so here.
Original artice: https://www.grimsbytelegraph.co.uk/all-about/scunthorpe