Colchester: The Meffs are touring with Alice Cooper

Lily Hopkins, from Clacton, and Lewis Copsey, of Colchester, create exhilarating punk-rock songs under the moniker The Meffs.

The Meffs are on their first ever UK arena venue dates, supporting American artist Alice Cooper on his Too Close For Comfort tour.

It kicked off on Monday at the Glasgow OVO Hydro, a venue with a capacity of 14,300.

Excitement - Lewis Copsey and Lily Hopkins outside the Glasgow Ovo Hyrdo (Image: Jonathan Dadds) The tour continues throughout this week with dates in Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, and two London shows at the Eventim Apollo - the finale London show is on October 21.

Lily spoke to The Gazette about the tour so far, and says it has been a surreal experience from the start.

She said: “We're only one show in so far but it was incredible. 

"The Glasgow crowd responded really well considering basically no one knew us, and we were shocked by the turn-out in an arena for the opening act.

“We can't wait for the rest now. We're doing exactly what we want to and are meant to be doing."

Rocking out - The Meffs on stage (Image: Jonathan Dadds) The duo are taking it all in their stride.

The Meffs drove up to Glasgow on Sunday night, tucked into a takeaway and watched TV.

On Monday, the pair were feeling “excited” and “nervous” as it was the biggest show they had ever played, but they were feeling “ready” for it and the "adrenaline” was pumping.

The Meffs have a small but tight-knit team of just Lily, Lewis and the band’s touring manager, Ola Sroczyńska in one car.

Incredible - The Meffs on stage in Glasgow (Image: Jonathan Dadds) Alan Jones from Black Cactus Studio has been providing tech support for the band and photographer Jonathan Dadds is on photography duty.

So far, the band has not met the famed headline act… yet.

Lily said: “We haven't met Alice yet but his guitarist, Nita, watched us from side of stage.

“Lewis and AJ met Bobby G from Primal Scream.

“Bobby introduced himself and Lewis introduced himself back. Bobby then said, 'that's in Sussex isn't it?' Lewis replied 'no, I'm from Essex'.

Rockstar - Lily Hopkins (Image: Jonathan Dadds) “Bobby said 'Lewis is in Sussex'. Lewis said 'no, that’s my name'. The rest is history.”

Since releasing a rowdy self-titled mini-album project independently in 2019, the band has continued to gain momentum.

After years of hard work, shows, and song releases, the punk rock band is continuing its upward trajectory.

It was only earlier this year the band supported Kings of Leon at BST Hyde Park, in London.

Lily is grateful for the journey so far.

Drummer - Lewis Copsey (Image: Jonathan Dadds) She said: “It feels great when hard graft pays off.

“We love playing live and we love putting out new music so these last few years have been a dream.

“Everything is falling into place and we're here for it.

“We have a UK headline tour coming up in January which has been in the works for a while, and tickets are flying.

Punk - The Meffs (Image: Jonathan Dadds) “Then we go onto Europe to continue the What A Life tour.

“Another highlight of this year was becoming a Music Venue Trust patron.

“Grassroots music is where it starts and where music develops, so it's something that is easy for us to get behind.”

The band released their official debut album What A Life in September, and the pair have been enjoying the reaction to it.

Lily said: “What A Life is our favourite record to date.

Crowd - another image of the Glasgow crowd watching The Meffs (Image: Jonathan Dadds) “It's fresh and represents us as a band today. The reaction live has been insane.

“We sold out of our limited records during presale and continue to sell the others now.

“Note to everyone reading - go stream or buy What A Life.

Next up The Meffs will head on a European tour with musician Frank Turner before they head back to the UK to play a gig at the Alexandra Palace, in London, with him.

Then festival season will start and The Meffs are ready for it all.

To find out more about The Meffs, visit themeffs.com.