Liverpool Sound City/Catfish and the Bottlemen Concert Review

A few months ago, I decided I wanted (NEEDED) to see Catfish and The Bottlemen, a band I am IN LOVE with. As this was before The Ride Tour was announced (which I have got tickets to), I looked into the dates they were doing and (surprise!) there weren't any local to me, except for some festivals. One of the festivals they were doing was Liverpool Sound City, and since there were day tickets available, I coerced a friend into coming with me (He wasn't too reluctant!) and we bought tickets for the Saturday.

We paid about £44.00 each for non VIP tickets, which although it is about double what we would have paid to just see Catifsh, I felt was worth it due to the number of bands we saw.

I gathered that for the majority of people, Catfish were the main attraction. Despite this, they were obviously keen to see the other bands too, as they were on last, at 10:30pm, so they had the whole day to fill first.

 Once we had got past the thorough search (patted down, bags emptied and pockets checked) and ID check process (the festival was 16+), we got in. Like many festivals, you couldn't take in food or drink, or leave and be let back in.

The first band we saw were a band named Atlas Wynd, who had a very early Arctic Monkeys sound. Although I had never heard of them, and no one seemed familiar with their songs, there were a few people dancing (an impressive feat, given that no one had had chance to get drunk) and the two members of the band were clearly enjoying themselves. I enjoyed their performance so much, I have since bought their Secret EP from Bandcamp, something I would definitely recommend doing. Their half hour set really impressed me, and I would highly recommend their song "Creep".

https://atlaswynd.bandcamp.com/

The next band we saw were called Dead Buttons, and whilst I didn't particularly love their performance, I didn't hate it! In my opinion, the music they were playing wasn't the type of thrash/metal music where you would expect a lack of words, but the lyrics they used were very repetitive and unimaginative. I didn't find that they drew me in the way Atlas Wynd did, and I don't think I would buy their album.

Later in the day we saw two bands, False Advertising and Judas, both of who performed in a way which definitely made me feel as though they were enjoying themselves and encouraged me to dance. 

Another interesting performance came from a Welsh band named Fleur De Lys, who performed all their songs singing in Welsh. Whilst I am sure that is not VERY unusual, I only normally hear Welsh spoken when I am in Wales, and never sung, so it surprised me. Nonetheless, I really enjoyed their performance.

The next band we saw (as far as I can remember!) was Band Of Skulls, who I had, in fact, heard of. There performance was absolutely brilliant, energetic, well executed and above all, their set list was chosen to get people up and dancing.

By this point, there were more and more people getting drunk, which did help with the dancing aspect, I have no doubt, but got the crowd going.

After their performance, it was time for the Sleaford Mods to take the stage. Their name would suggest them to be similar to the Jam, or other Mod bands, but from research, I knew that was not the case. Sleaford Mods have a style SLIGHTLY similar to John Cooper Clarke in the talking with backing music sense, but the lyrics are very different. What Sleaford Mods songs are is hard to explain. They are raw, flowing tirades against...well, anything...including Indie favourites Arctic Monkeys and Blossoms. The number of swearwords used in every line is, in a sense, impressive. There is a definite rap theme to their performance, which made it  hard for people to dance, but there were some definite hard core fans there, "Singing" along with Jason Williamson. From the rest of the audience, there was some rhythmic head nodding and some (mostly from older or more sober people) looks of utter confusion. I can see where they were coming from with that.

Then it was time for Catfish and The Bottlemen.

The date was the 28th May 2016, meaning it was the day after they had released The Ride . Personally, I had done my best to listen to the album on loop from the second it was released until I arrived at Sound City. Judging by the number of The Ride T Shirts around me, I was not alone. 

Catfish had the longest set of the night, an hour and a half without going off or an encore, and time flew. 

By this point, there were a lot of people crammed in, so I was incredibly grateful for my position about 5 rows back from the barrier. Their set list was a brilliant blend, based mostly on The Balcony, but with a bit of The Ride as well.

For me, the set list worked perfectly. Following the Sleaford Mods on stage meant that it fell to them to get the crowd dancing, but by 30 seconds into Homesick, their opening song, the whole crowd was singing and dancing. Van McCann, who, to be completely honest, I, and the majority of the people there, was in love with before I saw them was on stage the whole time, with the Bob Hall, Benji Blakeway and Johnny Bond going off midway while Van played Hourglass on Accoustic Guitar, which was beautiful. 

On the subject of Van, his showmanship was brilliant. Dancing around, singing his heart out and giving the impression that he was having the time of his life. I lost count of the number of times he thanked us all for being at the first festival they had ever headlined. He told us about the last time they had played Sound City, and their small audience, he dedicated a song to everyone who had bought "our new album and our old one" and was generally humble and grateful.

When he dropped the mic stand, he laughed it off, and worked round the stage hands who had to keep coming on and sorting his mic out. He asked the people at the back if they could hear ok, and generally helped make the show as brilliant as I had hoped.

Bondy's guitar playing skill was evident, and the new songs like 7 and Sound Check showcased that well, with the guitar perfectly executed but real.

They ended with Tyrants, which was a perfect end to an incredible show.

A few days later, The Ride Tour Tickets were released, and still buzzing from their fantastic show, a different friend and I managed to get tickets in the pre sale for Manchester, all 3 nights of which sold out.

Overall, the festival itself was brilliants, with a big variety of bands, from little known gems to, well, Catfish. The event was well managed, the selection of food was good and I was easily occupied for the 13 hour period.

Catfish were also incredible, and I CANNOT WAIT until November when I get to see them again.

Thank you for reading this.

All pictures taken by myself or from the official Sound City Photographs.