THERE’S going to be a lot of people in Glasgow who won’t remember seeing Catfish and the Bottlemen on the first night of their UK tour. Why? Probably because of hangovers and/or concussions from an extremely mental crowd.
Those of us who escaped from the O2 Academy unscathed and able to pass a breathalyser test, will remember seeing a band that are settling into their position as “the new Arctic Monkeys” quite nicely.
The lads told NME that when their new material will be released “a little bomb will go off in the music industry”, they certainly sparked excitement last night.
Since releasing their debut album The Balcony in 2014, the band have toured consistently and worked the festival circuit which is evident in their live performances. The crowds at their gigs are the type you’d expect at T in the Park – raucous, enthusiastic, and as previously mentioned, about eight pints in by the first song of the set.
The fans are also a lot younger than anticipated. As someone who’s approaching 20, seeing all the young ‘uns jumping about made me feel like a dad at a One Direction concert. And, as someone who’s shorter than five foot long subways, I expected my obituary to read “cause of death: crushed by sweaty men at Catfish and the Bottlemen.”
GLASGOW! THANKYOU! OH WHAT A NIGHT SEE YOU AT T!
HALIFAX…The bar has been set! Can't wait f'this roof# off# xxx pic.twitter.com/AXgeWMhg9r
— Catfish&theBottlemen (@thebottlemen) April 5, 2016
Aside from some technical difficulties, Catfish and the Bottlemen are an exceptional live band. The fact that they managed to work through these issues seamlessly probably makes them an even greater live act.
However, their setlist did feel somewhat wrong. Chucking massive crowd pleasers like Pacifier, which is one of their most well known songs, in near the beginning felt like a bad move. As did where they placed the great sing-a-long ballad Hourglass – it’d have worked better nearer the end of the set, or even as a finisher.
As this tour is a promo tour for their new album The Ride, which will be released at the end of May, they also debuted a few new songs. Although the crowd didn’t know them, which can be slightly awkward, they seemed to go down well, especially new single Soundcheck.
The song is a lot cleaner than their debut, with less thrashing and a more polished sound. Catfish have matured a bit. They’ve moved on from Glen’s Vodka to Smirnoff.
One of the band’s most triumphant songs, Cocoon, went down exceptionally well. Give it a listen and tell me you don’t want to be in a room full of people singing the chorus.
The band clearly have a very devoted set of fans, reminiscent of other similar guitar bands like Arctic Monkeys, The Kooks and The Courteeners. Your mum might not like them, but since most of the fans are about 12, disobeying your parents is extremely cool. Or is saying cool uncool? Who knows. I’m getting too old for this.
Catfish and the Bottlemen are touring the UK and the USA until the end of July, as well as playing Benicassim festival in Spain come July.
By Lorna Mckenzie
Photo courtesy of Catfish and the Bottlemen – Facebook
