Sunderland band set to play at major London festival

Thieves of Liberty - which is made up of former and current Sunderland University students Simeon Robson, 27, Lidya Ballaban, 19, Kieran Wilson, 21, and Connor Henderson, 21, have secured a place to perform on the main stage at this year’s Camden Rocks Festival in London.

The band were chosen after coming second in a competition for the place - which saw them compete against other bands from across the country for votes.

The talented group managed to gain enough votes to be asked to perform a half hour set in London on Saturday, June 2, in front of thousands of music fans.

They will be opening up the festival for the likes of headliners Maximo Park and say they can’t believe their dream has come true.

Lead guitarist Kieran, from Seaham, said: “We are over the moon. Everyone is delighted and just can’t believe it.

“We were in a state of shock at first.

“We received an email last Friday letting us know we had come second and offering us a slot.
“The news came on the same day that we released our first single called ‘Wearing You Out.’”

Coming second in the competition means all the more to the band, who just missed out on gaining the top spot in last year’s competition.

Kieran added: “We are going to play the new single at the event and, since it has been released, we have had some really good feedback.

“It is doing really well and our Facebook video has had over 16,000 views.

“It is available to download on the like of iTunes and it is surreal to see it listed.

“It is six weeks until the festival now so we are stepping up rehearsals.”