Catfish and the Bottlemen deliver on first major U.S. tour

Catfish and the Bottlemen with Wild Party //
The Independent – San Francisco
February 10th, 2015 //

There’s a big, rich sound emanating from Wales these days from a band with an unlikely, though memorable name of Catfish and the Bottlemen. A band that has been together for eight years, it’s pushed its way through several years of rejection and naysayers to break through to the other side — in a big way.

Catfish and the Bottlemen have done their homework and have been developing in the traditional way of playing their asses off as often as possible at any venue that will have them. Over the past year, they’ve been playing to huge crowds at several of Europe’s largest festivals where fans have received them with great enthusiasm.

As lead singer Van McCann recently pointed out after their performance at the Reading Festival, he could see the turnaround in the eyes of the fans as they delivered what has now become one of their highly sought-after performances.

On its first major U.S. tour, the band played The Independent on Tuesday night for its third stop with many more sold-out dates down the road. Opening for them was San Antonio’s Wild Party, who got the evening rolling along with a tasty performance of their originals.

Touring in support of their latest album The Balcony, Catfish and the Bottlemen treated fans to a classic, crowd-pleasing performance that ripped through their catalog, about half of which came from the new release.

A guitar-driven band, this is indie rock at its finest — classic rock lyrics, big guitar and a driving rhythm section with excellent vocals from McCann, all supported and elevated by backing vocals from the band, which is also comprised of guitarist Billy Bibby, drummer Bob Hall and bassist Benji Blakeway. Highly infectious, they picked up many new fans on this night.

A listen to the new album is well worth the effort. Produced by Jim Abbiss (Adele, Arctic Monkeys), it will compel multiple playbacks. Every track is a winner and gives a good indication of what they deliver in a live performance.

Catch them while you can in these smaller venues because that is likely to change in the future. They already have a sound and performance chops that translate well to larger stages, something we can expect to see in their future and something they richly deserve.

Setlist:
1. Rango
2. Pacifier
3. Sidewinder
4. Fallout
5. 26
6. Business
7. Kathleen
8. Homesick
9. Hourglass
10. Cocoon
11. Tyrant