FANS of one of Brighton’s hottest bands were overjoyed to learn of a surprise gig and slept overnight outside a record shop to be guaranteed a ticket.

Royal Blood, 2015 winner of Best British Group at the Brit Awards, announced via North Laine store Resident Music on Sunday morning that they would be playing at Concorde 2 on Monday night.

The email from the store to its subscriber list quickly went viral but warned that only one ticket per person would be available, and that entry would require both a ticket and a wristband given out to queuing fans.

Resident Music co-owner Natasha Youngs said: “Today has been absolutely incredible. There’s been a massive turnout, as expected.

“We worked it so that the promoters, One Inch Badge, came down at 6.30am and wristbanded everyone in the queue. They knew how many tickets there were so it meant people at the back didn’t have to wait for ages to then be disappointed.”

She said the store team had known about the gig for a week but the announcement was deliberately delayed until the last minute.

She added: “The band was really keen to avoid secondary ticket sales. You actually had to be here on the day..

“It’s a brilliant way of avoiding it - although obviously it does mean you had to be in the queue at eight in the morning.”

The keenest fans grabbed their place at the front of the queue at 9.45pm on Sunday and met the band - Mike Kerr and Ben Thatcher - who arrived unexpectedly .

Natasha said the tickets were in such high demand she had been inundated with calls from friends she had not heard from in years, asking whether she could help them get to the gig.

Rock band Royal Blood were formed in Brighton in 2013 after Thatcher, from Rustington, gave his friend Kerr, from Worthing, a lift home from the airport.

Brighton band Thelma opened for the superstar duo at a packed Concorde 2 last night.

Thelma lead singer George McCanna, 26, told The Argus: “We all grew up playing music with Mike and Ben so it was great to be sharing the stage with them on there first gig of the new album. It’s crazy to be playing a show where people have queued since the night before for ticket were really looking forward to it.”

Royal Blood’s second album, “How Did We Get So Dark?” is due out on June 16.