Review: Catfish and The Bottlemen at Plymouth Pavilions

Just hours before the gig, Plymouth Pavilions acted as our fairy Godmother by allowing us to go to the ball, or in this case a ram-packed sweaty gig; by releasing a new batch of Catfish and The Bottlemen tickets. What a way to start the week off!

It’s a frosty Monday night at The Plymouth Pavilions and endless rows of slightly drunken agitated fans are erupting into chants every time the songs end. But it's only moments till we’re plummeted into silent darkness. Red spotlights start dancing crazily over the stage and crowd with The Beatles ‘Helter Skelter’ taking over the speakers. Eventually The Llandudno piece arrive on stage causing the crowd to go into a frenzy.

The band begin the night with ‘Homesick’ off their 2014 album ‘The Balcony.’ As the excitement takes over the room, the crowd scream back each lyric in disbelief that this moment has finally arrived. The bass performed by Benji Blakeway is soon vibrating through the wall bouncing off each wall, with the pulsating drum beats performed by Bob Hall.

The four-piece formed back in 2007 and since breaking into the music industry in 2014, they have released two albums; The Balcony (2014) and The Ride (2016) whilst also having sold out headline tours and festivals.

It’s not long before we hear some of their new songs off the album ‘The Ride.’ Soundcheck was released as the lead single for the album earlier this February, which soon became Annie Mac’s Hottest Record in The World.The crowd became unruly- carelessly throwing their pints across the sea of people, whilst we pray its water we got drenched by and flying inflatable crocodiles are crowd surfing their way to the stage. The spotlights are going crazy and lead singer, Van McCanns’ voice is soon drowned out by the fans.

‘Hourglass’ is acoustically performed towards the end of the night. With just Van McCann on the guitar singing, the mellow spotlights bring a calm to the storm as everyone sings along. Some with lighters in the air you find yourself swaying with the tide. Van McCann gives the crowd the rest of the song as he plays on the guitar. We sing in unison not missing a lyric.

The show comes to an end after an hour and a half. With everyone suddenly leaving or others refusing to let the night be over, you understand why Catfish and The Bottlemen have been awarded ‘Best Band Live.’ However I highly recommend you stock up on throat lozengers before attending the gig.

By Emilia Pavely