Catfish lost his bottle man

The One Show

One Album - they have one album and they played it all and nothing else, 

One Light Show - for all but one song we were treated to the same red and swivelling white lights 

One Hour - well they played for less than an hour!

Did I want more? 

Yes not to feel short-changed...

...but then again no because Catfish lost his bottle man and played this so safe I lost interest by the end.

But there again they didn't have to do anything - they could have stuck the CD on shuffle and the crowd would have been happy - hang on that's basically what they did!!! 

This was a festival crowd - a drunk, as if they had been drinking all day in the sun, beer throwing crowd - greeting every song with a cheer so loud as to imply this was the band's masterpiece and every chorus sung at full volume and an excuse to bounce....

Beer-soaked and Bounced Upon

I should have taken the sign from the album title - The Balcony - and bought a ticket up there - yes I still would have left short-changed but not beer soaked and bounced upon as well! We had everything in the stalls - Girlfriends on shoulders - after loosing interest in the gig one of the highlights was watching for five minutes as one drunk boyfriend tried to manoeuvre his girlfriend onto his shoulders - we had good old fashioned crowd-surfers and the right of passage for the teenager with his dad at his first gig...

Poor lad couldn't see a thing on stage in amongst the bouncing six-footers and spent most of the gig with his phone, on video mode, held at arms length high in the air, bouncing up and down himself (wasn't sure if it was because he was really into the gig - or he was just trying to see!) - he will no doubt be watching snippets of the gig for many days and making himself - and all his mates who were so jealous 'cause they couldn't get a ticket' (thanks Dad!) - sea-sick!!!!!

That Difficult Second Album

Don't get me wrong Catfish and the Bottlemen powered through a precise set - but I wanted more than just the album played back to me - more than just complete strangers bouncing on me - more than showers of beer - am I getting old or just expect more from a gig than a human jukebox?

They said they had the second album written - why couldn't we have heard a couple of new songs to see what we can expect from that difficult second album. Or is that the reason - it's been so difficult they are not confident to air a song or two!

Why not throw in a couple of covers - songs that they are listening to on tour or have influenced them? 

And guys, this advice is free, go to see Ian Siegal and learn how to communicate with the audience - I know at the moment you don't need to because you are the band everyone wants to see and people love you and people know every lyric - but believe me there will be a time when you can't just power through a few songs and have the place bouncing - take the crowd with you now and you will build yourself a future - lazily rely on this wave of popularity and you'll be a catfish left floundering out of water - this years' washed up bottlemen on the violently shifting sands of popular music.

So will I buy the second album - I doubt it because on the evidence of this gig they will have played it safe and I don't want to be left hanging again!

Total Waste of an Evening then?
No evening of live music is a total waste of time and I'm glad I went - just disappointed in the head-line act - Little Comets supported, and their set was not that much shorter than Catfish and the Bottlemen, yet they left me wanting more not because I felt short-changed but because they didn't play it safe....

...and they didn't have red and swivelling white lights!!!

Gig: 4 of 50

Date of Gig: Tues 31st March 2015

Venue

Shepherds Bush Empire

Artists

Little Comets
Catfish and the Bottlemen

Running total of artists seen 8

The Siegal has Landed

Music to my ears….

Seven songs in and Ian Siegal announces – ‘Oh yeah – it’s a kind of rule we have – you only take photos during the first three songs – so I’ve played six or seven – you’ve had your chance – put your phones away and just enjoy the gig!’

Has he read my last blog! Of course not but there are musicians out there who get that a concert is an event, to be enjoyed in the moment not later through photos, so don't spent their time posing instead they spend their time performing! 

Its music to my ears – he carries on with the tirade – ‘and if you use a flash – I’ll know you’re not a professional! – So just put it away’

Before the chorus of the eighth song Siegal spots an offender, wanders from his mic to stage left, stops playing, and wags a finger at the phone pointing at him. Back to the mic and the phone is still raised Siegal stares straight down the lens as he sings the chorus, there is a flash, without flinching and still staring down the iPhone he finishes the chorus with the, simple but effective, ’arse’ - the crowd respond with cheers at least most of this audience get the concept!

Too young to be that talented…

And why wouldn’t you tonight – this is a master class in live performance.  This is the first time I’ve seen Ian Siegal with a band – I’ve seen him a couple of times before – once solo in a tiny venue and once with Jimbo Mathias and both times acoustic. 

He is a consummate performer with the ability to communicate with any audience and not just through his music no matter what kind of gig or venue – an ability too many performers ignore. 

The communication starts with the sheer depth of passion for the music, his self-taught badass blues guitar and that voice (a voice for which blues was invented) and continues as he effortlessly chats between songs telling stories or berating the audience for talking!

Tonight is no different as he and his band blast through the first three songs you are sucked in and you know you are part of something very special, the description of which will grace many whiskey-soaked conversations in years to come. 

His new band mates are quite simply too young to be that talented – we are treated to 2 hours of a fabulously tight band and breath-taking guitar playing from Dusty Ciggaar (real name!) – we know we have seen a guitar great and the best blues Europe has to offer.

And I didn’t have to queue for the loo…

With the mention of Europe I’m briefly taken back to Shepherds Bush last week – but the performances are chalk and cheese, conference and premiership, boys and men – to be honest there is no comparison – tonight was a gig of power, passion, virtuoso performance and delicately crafted songs, and last week wasn’t.

After the encore and before the trip home time to answer the call of nature, this week there is no queue, and the urinal utterance is simple – ‘damn fine gig’ - and we all, while still looking straight ahead, nod in agreement - afterall even a gig this good isn't going to allow for a break in urinal etiquette!!!

(All photos taken during the first three songs - Honest)

Gig: 3 of 50

Date of Gig: Sat 28th March 2015

Venue

Jazz Cafe Camden

Artists

Niall Kelly

Ian Siegal Band

Running total of artists seen 6