Gig review: Catfish and the Bottlemen at Doncaster Dome

It’s been four and a half months well spent though if these new tunes and their much more polished shows are anything to go by.

Making their way to the stage while their trademark white strobe lights dazzle their audience, the band crash straight into Homesick. The lively frontman barely has to sing at all as the security battle to get a sea of fans, screaming the lyrics, down off their mate’s shoulders.

Continuing through their set, the band play Kathleen, which gets a great reaction from the crowd – and I’m pretty sure the bellows of ‘I gotta give it to you, you give me problems’ can be heard even outside the huge venue that is Doncaster Dome.

Next though, comes a new release from the band, Soundcheck. Recently it’s been impossible to tune into any major radio station for more than half an hour and not hear this and that is no bad thing! It fits in seamlessly with their old tracks, and it’s clearly already a crowd favourite.

Next up are two old favourites: Pacifier and Sidewinder. Both tracks boom through the Dome and make way for another new and as yet unreleased track, Anything. Again, it fits in perfectly sandwiched between tracks from their 2014 debut, The Balcony.

The band’s fast-paced set offers no relief for the crowd who are all on their feet. Tracks such as 26, Business and yet another unreleased track, Red, make way for a solo acoustic moment for McCann, as he plays Hourglass to the ecstatic, Doncaster crowd.

With the rest of the band joining him back on stage, they waste no time in ramping up the energy again as they go straight into a new track, 7. It’s a song which is familiar for those lucky – and quick – enough to bag a ticket for their last UK tour.

Playing Cocoon, it soon comes to the last song of the evening, which, as always, is Tyrants. It makes a great set-closer as McCann and his bandmates really loose themselves in the track, with McCann stumbling about the stage, just about managing to play guitar from his back, head and even upside down at some points.

Catfish and The Bottlemen really are a must-see live band, and with their new album, The Ride announced for release on May 27, keep your eyes open for more tour dates and new singles from the band.