I didn't think they'd be able to top an incredible Reading performance but Catfish prove me wrong yet again
Catfish And The Bottlemen are one of the stand-out rock bands of the year, propelling themselves from leather-clad local boys playing in basements to seasoned rock stars in just over 365 days since the release of their début, The Balcony, in September last year. Many bands would quite happily content themselves with a sell-out spring tour, huge performances at some of the World's biggest and most prestigious festivals on top of the usual barrage of interviews that come hand in hand with a soaring album. Not this one. I was lucky enough to see their incredible performance at Reading festival this August but the sheer energy and raw passion I saw last Saturday seemed intensified even since then with the nuclear powered Van McCann bringing the crowd surging to life from his first bounding step onto the stage to The Beatles' Helter Skelter. This song choice in itself seemed significant, a statement of their intent and the expectations they set of themselves as a band. Or maybe they just like the song?
It is a constant source of disappointment for music fans worldwide to see their heroes fall short of the idyllic standards of excited expectation going round and round in their heads as they clutch their tickets in the queue but McCann once again shattered any doubts instantly with a note-perfect performance of Rango to start the show. Pacifier and Fallout -two of the more well known tracks- followed, sparking renewed roaring from the crowd... and a couple of flares as well. This shocked even the band themselves before it (along with the bloke holding it) were mercilessly extinguished by three burly bouncers. I was delighted to then hear the echoey guitar opening to Sidewinder, whose absence had been perhaps my only disappointment at their festival set. There was a brief dip in intensity as they played yet to be released single, 7 which struggled to strike home with the audience but always seems to be the case with new material.
One of the few criticisms I have of the band is the lack of influence that the bassist, lead guitarist and drummer actually have on the show. Their robotic performances, almost void of personality really understated the incredible talent they clearly have on stage and turned the concert into 'The Van McCann Show'... but what a show it was. What the others may have lacked in character or confidence, he more than made up for over the course of the night. Other than perhaps Billie-Joe Armstrong of Green Day, I have never seen a front man truly connect with audiences in the way McCann does, commanding, inviting and inspiring us in equal measure. Even his, often, clumsy efforts to captivate the baying crowd -at one point clambering onto Blakeway's drum platform, knocking over microphones and tangling wires in the process- only make him more personable. His polite, nearly apologetic call to anarchy: 'The security is here to control you, give 'em something to... erm... control...' is testament to their labelling by American critics as 'Oasis but with better manners'.
It was during Tyrants however, that the Welshmen demonstrated their true elegance as performers, holding the frankly already captivated audience with its simple yet delicate riff. Their ability to do so distinguishes them from many other rock bands I have seen, with the extended drum and guitar solos turning a regular album track into a ten-minute, larynx-busting finale. So when the last, piercing note of the songrang out across the hall and McCann retreated backstage with a final wave, no one even bothered to ask for an encore because there was simply nothing left to be given.
