Welsh rock band Catfish & the Bottlemen took to the stage at the O2 Academy in Leeds last week for the first date of their UK tour, and regardless of the many technical issues the band had, it was a first date that you wouldn’t want to forget! The last year has seen the boys get the success they deserve as they’ve gone from playing intimate venues to their current tour of a much larger scale, as well as a position on the main stage at Reading & Leeds Festival this August. The boys also managed over 30 UK and European music festival appearances last summer. Before coming on the stage, the lights went out and the room filled with jolly sounding music from the Pirates of the Caribbean soundtrack, before the band walked on stage and played ‘Rango’ from their debut album, ‘The Balcony’. ‘The Balcony’ was released last September and reached number 10 in the UK album chart.
The set list was what you’d expect from a band with only one album, with the added exception of B-Side ‘Asa’, which lead singer Van played solo after technical difficulties caused the drums to fail. The first suggestion was that the band went off stage whilst the technical hitch was sorted, so Van well and truly saved the day. ‘Hourglass’ was also performed solo by Van, though much later in the set. Every song went down brilliantly, especially singles ‘Pacifier’ and ‘Kathleen’, which were both play-listed on Radio 1, and premiered as Zane Lowe’s ‘Hottest Record in the World’.
Van’s rapport with the audience was on top form as he encouraged people to get on each other’s shoulders, also showing his softer side as he described the night to be the bands biggest headline gig to date, and what they’ve always dreamed of. Van also encouraged what became an extremely vocal and fantastic extended outro by the audience during the performance of ‘Homesick’.
The band finished the night with ‘Tyrants’, which was unfortunately cut short due to somebody setting a flare off in the crowd. It wasn’t long before the house lights were on, and the bands amps appeared to have had the plug cut, causing Van to throw his guitar in a frustrated manner, before he and the rest of the band left the stage. Myself and the rest of the crowd can count ourselves incredibly lucky as despite strict venue regulations against the use of flares, after a lot of chanting and clapping, the band returned to perform the song again, and the event didn’t seem to dampen their moods at all.
Laura Dean
