Catfish and the Bottlemen announce 2 London shows

Catfish and the Bottlemen have announced 2 London shows at the Electric Ballroom in Camden.

The two shows are set to happen on May 23rd and 25th, ahead of the release of their second album, The Ride, due out on May 27th. Tickets will cost £20 + booking fees and will be available for ballot winners only - meaning you can book a maximum of two tickets, if successful.

Their decision to run a ballot is due to the band's frustration of touts and their fans not being able to get tickets, which became immediately clear when announcing their returning shows earlier this year. Sign up for the ballot opens today (April 22nd) at 3pm and closes at 3pm on Monday, with winners soon being contacted by email. You can register here.

Those who are successful will have their names printed on the tickets and will be required to show ID on the doors at the gig.

Catfish and the Bottlemen recently revealed their second single from The Ride as 7, which they previewed on their last major tour in 2015. You can listen to that single on all major digital platforms, and here. 

[LISTEN] Catfish and the Bottlemen - 7

Ahead of the release of their eagerly anticipated second album - "The Ride" - Brit Breakthrough Award winners Catfish and the Bottlemen have unveiled their new single - "7" - which is out now on Island Records as an instant-grat when pre-ordering their new LP.

You can listen to it below.

Catfish and the Bottlemen announce sophomore album "The Ride"

Indie rock band Catfish And The Bottlemen have revealed the details and release date to their highly anticipated sophomore album, 'The Ride'. Following on from the incredible success of their début 'The Balcony' which was released in September 2014, 'The Ride' will be released on May 27th 2016, just in time for festival season. The Llandudno band have been hard grafting to get this record out as soon as possible, with having a non-stop touring schedule over the past few years and then writing and recording the new album in LA with legendary producer David Sardy, this hard work has definitely paid off.

'The Ride' is available to pre-order worldwide now, with 'Soundcheck' being an instant track download once you've pre-ordered. The band are due to tour in early April, with all venues sold out in minutes. You can catch them at numerous festivals this summer, including Benicassim (FIB), Governors Ball and Bristol Summer Series. Catfish And The Bottlemen have released their new video for 'Soundcheck', directed by Malia James which you can check out below!


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Sigur Rós, James Bay, The Last Shadow Puppets, and Catfish and The Bottlemen to perform at Bristol Summer Series

Sigur Rós, James Bay, The Last Shadow Puppets, and Catfish and The Bottlemen have been all announced as headline acts to perform at the Bristol Summer Series over 4 days. The announcement has sparked some music boffins to assume all four acts will be performing at Glastonbury too - as it's just down the road.
 

None the less these gigs will all go down a treat in Bristol, tickets for the shows go on sale on the 18th of March - here - at 10am

Bristol Summer Series shows
June
22 - James Bay
23 - Sigur Rós
24 - The Last Shadow Puppets
25 - Catfish and The Bottlemen

Catfish and the Bottlemen announce UK Spring Tour

Catfish and the Bottlemen recently announced tour news is on its way. Now the dates have been revealed for Spring this year. The venues are somewhat intimate, taking the scale of the band into consideration, but are still on the larger side.

The dates of the tour are:

APRIL
Mon 4th - Glasgow, O2 Academy
Fri 8th - Southend, Cliffs Pavilion
Sat 9th - Doncaster, Dome
Mon 11th - London, O2 Forum Kentish Town
Tues 12th - Brighton, Dome

All dates go on general sale at 9am on Friday. However, you can get early access to pre-sale on Wednesday via their mailing list. You can sign up to that here.

The four-piece band have already announced a brand new single (listen below) and a series of festival dates across the Summer which are as follows...

May
Sat 28th - Liverpool, Sound City
July
Fri 8th - Manchester, Sounds Of The City, Castlefield Bowl
Fri 15th - Oxfordshire, Truck Festival, Hill Farm
Sun 24th - Sheffield, Tramlines
Fri 29th - Lake District, Kendal Calling
Sat 30th - Derbyshire, Y Not Festival

FIB 2016 announce a stellar line-up

Ever since becoming a Melvin Benn festival, FIB (formerly known as Benicassim festival) has continuously given us exceptional line-ups. Last week, FIB added even more incredible acts to their already ace line-up once again for the spanish July festival.

 The current 2016 line-up consists of:

Muse
The Chemical Brothers
Disclosure                                             
Massive Attack
Kendrick Lamar
Major Lazer
The 1975
The Vaccines
Catfish and the Bottlemen
Jaimie XX
The Maccabees
Bloc Party
Mac DeMarco
Hannah Wants
Delorean
Hinds
Kero Kero Bonito
Soledad Velez
Ramirez Exposure
Perlita

The Benicassim Festival takes place from the 14th-17th July this year in the Costa Azahar area of Spain. With full weekend including camping tickets being sold at around 147.50 €, it is certain that you will be getting your money's worth line-up wise and holidaywise.

For more festival information click here

Catfish and the Bottlemen reveal new single "Soundcheck"

Catfish and the Bottlemen have revealed their new single, Soundcheck, on Annie Mac's show tonight. After just a short break from touring the first record, the four-piece are back with a brand new song for fans. As well as this, the band have recently been announcing festival slots, including headline sets, across the country. The next record will be out before Summer hits.

Exclusively played on Annie Mac's show tonight (15.2.16), the new single is described as "the one" by Van, the lead singer. He has also previously said that the last record, The Balcony, was the support and this record is the headliner.

Soundcheck is cleaner than before. The sound is more precise and perfected, drawing upon the band's career and the way in which it has progressed so quickly. They're ready for stadiums and there's no doubt about it - what with their darker, more mature sound still building up into something of an anthem; something they can do very well. Proving they have learned more as musicians and have taken a step back to approach that within their music, Catfish and the Bottlemen are back with a song described as "huge" and "spectacular" by listeners on Radio 1.

Van McCann reveals details of the next album. Recorded out in LA, the four-piece say they have been working with a producer who has been telling them more directly about what is good and what isn't. The sound apparently came natural and they made it sound as big as they could, without steering too far from what they are.

Tramlines Festival announces Catfish and the Bottlemen as headliners

Sheffield’s inner-city music festival, which will take place from Friday 22 to Sunday 24 July across four huge outdoor spaces and 15 diverse venues across the city, is thrilled to announce that Catfish and the Bottlemen will headline the Main Stage on Sunday night. Also newly announced are Sheffield home-grown talents The Crookes and Blessa. With over 100,000 attendees so far the festival is at the forefront of new music and hot artists.

The festival will also see Dizzee Rascal, Young Fathers, Dawn Penn, Goldie MBE, Toddla T, Norman Jay MBE, Amy Becker, Mumdance, Field Music, Hinds, Gwenno, C Duncan, Randall, Meilyr Jones and many more take on the stages at one of the most diverse festivals in the UK. The venues are o2 Academy, the Leadmill, The Night Kitchen, the Cathedral, Foundry, Fusion, and The Octagon Centre, The Harley, Hope Works, City Hall, Queens Social Club and Yellow Arch Studios.

Tickets for Tramlines Festival 2016 are now on sale and a full weekend ticket (covering all stages from day until night) comes in at the bargain price of just £42 before booking fees.

Catfish and the Bottlemen reveal "Soundcheck" next Monday

Catfish and the Bottlemen have made an announcement regarding new music, and we're as excited as you.

UPDATE :: Click here to listen to the track.

Announcing the news through their social media, the four-piece put out the simple message of "SOUNDCHECK | MONDAY | ANNIE MAC | BBC RADIO 1" causing fans to spread their joy across all social platforms.

On Wednesday, Neil Simpson (Catfish and the Bottlemen's manager) revealed at a music conference at University for the Creative Arts that the record is now finished and that the band are focusing on smaller festivals this year, with headline sets already announced for Castlefield Bowl, Sound City and Truck Festival plus other slots across many more. It is unknown whether there is still more Summer shows to be announced or not.

Fans expect details of the band's next record to be put out on Monday along side the new single. Though with the success of The Balcony, we can't predict anything with one of the UK's most exciting bands.

Check back on Monday for information on the new single.

Catfish and the Bottlemen perform "Kathleen" on The Late Late Show with James Corden

Catfish and the Bottlemen have been over to the US and have even gone onto late night tele to perform "Kathleen" on The Late Late Show with James Corden. It looks like the band are well on their way to being a stadium band after this showing.

Watch it below.

(C) Nathan McLaren-Stewart

Reading Festival 2015 - Round-Up

This year was one of Reading Festivals most anticipated years, mainly due to The Libertines, Metallica and a sold-out event, here we have a collection of reviews from the festival, with Royal Blood, The Wombats, Foals, Jamie XX and Catfish and The Bottlemen.

Vann McCann of Catfish and The Bottlemen - (C) BBC

Jamie XX - by Jack Storey

When I got to the tent it was rammed, everyone knows how big Jamie XX is now, and he's certainly managed to do it all on his own. Obviously you have The XX fans down at the front hoping for him to play some of their songs but this was a different affair.

The highlight of the set was "Loud Places" which got the crowd moving, and myself too, even considering I'm a late 20's chap with a big body I was loving what Jamie was doing on the decks. Although if you are going to sample vocals from a mate, please let them come along, I was half expecting Romy to appear but alas it never happened. However, Jamie XX was one of the highlights of the whole fucking weekend! Loved it!




Royal Blood - by James Kays

At this weekend's Reading festival Royal Blood took to the main stage to perform a cracking band new track called "Hook, Line and Sinker". The tune returns to the rampant style they had at the start of the band, similar to that of White Stripes. With some meaty hooks and pounding drums this basically sums up the duo in a sentence, still... this new track is just the start of things!




The Wombats - by Maria Torres

Reading Festival 2015 was undoubtedly yet another success, with stellar headline performances on the main stage from Mumford and Sons, Metallica and The Libertines, and numerous incredible sets from the varying genres of bands from stage to stage. However, The Wombats’ Saturday headline set on the very small Festival Republic Stage was most definitely the highlight of the festival. Half an hour before the set began and already the very compact tent was full to it’s maximum capacity, with an audience of all ages packed so tightly that one could barely move a muscle. By 10.30pm, the lights dimmed and the Liverpudlian trio took to the stage to give an intense hour-long performance filled with energy and charisma. 

Matthew Murphy launched straight into the punchy hit ‘Moving to New York’, with the audience reciprocating every lyric with greatest ease. Bassist Tord Knudsen commenced running around the stage after the first beat, driving his energy forward into the atmosphere and encouraging more movement (resulting in an overheated tent), whilst Dan Haggis remained poised yet still ensuring he was giving the drumming his all. The set continued without hesitation, consisting of hits old and new, The Wombats were putting on a show directed at every audience member in their presence. New tracks such as ‘Greek Tragedy’ and ‘Give Me a Try’ were a particular highlight, with catchy choruses being sung back and forth continuously without fail. After what seemed like minutes, the set drew to a close and The Wombats decided to go all out by performing old favourites ‘Tokyo (Vampires and Wolves)’ and ‘Let’s Dance to Joy Division’. The crowd went absolutely crazy for the trio, resulting in Matthew Murphy coming down into the audience to get mobbed, ending in smiles all around.  

The Wombats have proved once again that they have returned with a vengeance and will always be the band full of catchy hits and insane live shows that they always have been. Their Festival Republic set will always be one to remember, as it was flawless, energetic and best of all, pure entertainment. 


Foals  - by Maria Torres

Yannis from Foals - (C) BBC

Saturday morning, there was a buzz to be felt at the NME/Radio 1 tent. Rumours had been circulating the festival that Indie rock band Foals were to be playing an early afternoon set, following the release of their new album ‘What Went Down.’ Although not yet confirmed, festival-goers were fairly positive that the Oxford based band would be making an appearance after seeing posters scattered around the festival and a fairly implicit clue from the festival organisers. Come noon and the tent itself started to fill-up as the news of the band’s appearance presented itself on social media.  


By 1.40pm, the stage was overflowing with an audience eagerly awaiting for Foals to come on stage. The band promptly made an appearance which generated an overpowering cheer and launched straight into familiar hit ‘My Number.’ The reception from the crowd was overwhelming, with the whole tent singing back every lyric word for word whilst mosh pits formed and dancing took place. Yannis Philippakis’ stage persona was immediately revealed, he owned the stage and maintained full adoration from the audience. Numerous guitar rhythms drove the set along effortlessly, ensuring that the band’s incredible musicianship was highlighted throughout the performance. Foals followed with a new track ‘Mountain at my Gates,’ which again displayed their faultless performance as well as being a definite crowd-pleaser for all present. Resulting in an atmospheric climax, the new song is undoubtedly received as an instant classic. The set continued with a trio of older songs, ‘Inhaler’, ‘Spanish Sahara’ and ‘Red Socks Pugie’ which were all performed flawlessly, reflecting the professionalism as well as the popularity of this highly-established band. The crowd chants echoed throughout the tent continuously, inevitably showing that Foals are destined for even greater things to come in the next year.  



Foals concluded their short 30 minute set with another new track ‘What Went Down,’ introducing the heavier guitar riffs as well as darker lyrics, all driven by a continuous beat which encouraged the crowd to go wild. Yannis resulted in stepping down into the audience and being hailed as an ultimate indie legend, with the audience reciprocating with utter chaos, trying to get within close proximity of the lead singer. As the song reached an abrupt finish the applause for Foals was deafening as well as never-ending. The appreciation from the band themselves to their fans was evident as they made their way off stage.

Throughout this short set Foals displayed their achievement of an even greater level of musicianship, with the release of new material, insane live shows and that they are now more than ready to take on the headline slots at countless festivals to come.  




Catfish and the Bottlemen - by Martin Woods

There is no hiding it, Catfish and the Bottlemen are a big deal, and have been for a while now, with a massive début album  under their belts I expected some sing-a-longs at their set on the BBC/NME Stage but this was on another level.

They're a testament to any band out there thinking that they're is no way they're ever going to be signed, this lot have been together for a long time and now they're reaping their rewards, by playing to a packed out tent at Reading. After a solid Glasto appearance in the rain it was quite nice to see them 'in the dry' - although it was awful weather outside - and during their set they even done a little cover of Stereophonics mid-set. All in all this was a solid set of 9 tracks, expect to see them headline this stage in the future!

Catfish and the Bottlemen are to record new album in August

In a statement posted on facebook today, the band have announced that they're going to have to cancel their appearance at Boardmasters Festival. However, a silver lining is that they're going to be recording their new album!
 

Photo by Nathan McLaren-Stewart

The statement says:

"We’re gutted to tell you that we're not going to being able to play at Boardmasters festival this year. Unfortunately it's turned out that the only time we can record our 2nd album is in August if we wanted to get it done this side of Christmas. We can't wait for you to hear the new songs and can’t apologise enough for not being able to make this show. We're all huge fans of Boardmasters and were very much looking forward to playing.
Thank you all and especially to Boardmasters for being so understanding. 

Van, Ben, Bob and Bondy."

10 Of The Best Covers So Far In 2015

Everyone loves a cover, and last year we done a huge post on the best 30 of the past 5 years, but we feel the urge to do another post. This time, including 2015's covers only.

Enjoy.

Orlando from The Maccabees in Radio 1's Live Lounge

Ewan McGregor - Hourglass - Catfish and the Bottlemen

 

Novo Amor - Welcome To The Jungle - Guns N Roses

 

Billy Lockett - Out Of The Black - Royal Blood

 

Mansionair - Seasons (Waiting For You) - Future Islands

 

ZIBRA - King - Years & Years

 

 The Maccabees - Lean On - Major Lazer, DJ Snake and MO 

 

Slaves - Shutdown - Skepta 

Gallant - Learn To Fly - Foo Fighters

 

Florence & The Machine - Times Like These - Foo Fighters 

Nothing But Thieves - Holding Out For A Hero - Bonnie Tyler 

 

[WATCH] Ewan McGregor - Hourglass (Catfish And The Bottlemen Cover)

Ok, so we know that Catfish and The Bottlemen are huge fans of Ewan McGregor, and we know that he's appeared in the video for their latest single "Hourglass". WELL NOW - Ewan has recorded a very special cover of "Hourglass" for the band, as you can see below.

It's no surprise that this has happened as the Scot is a great musician as well as a top notch actor - watch it below.

Catfish and the Bottlemen announce Autumn UK tour

Catfish And The Bottlemen have announced another round of UK shows this autumn. Following their raucous set at Radio 1's Big Weekend last weekend, the indie-rock quartet have confirmed a 12 date stint all over the UK.

Check out the dates in full below.

Photo by Nathan McLaren-Stewart

Catfish and the Bottlemen UK Tour
October
28 - EXETER Great Hall
29 - CARDIFF University Great Hall
31 - ABERDEEN Music Hall
November
01 - EDINBURGH Corn Exchange
03 - MANCHESTER O2 Apollo
04 - MANCHESTER O2 Apollo
06 - LONDON O2 Academy Brixton
07 - LONDON O2 Academy Brixton
08 - BIRMINGHAM O2 Academy Birmingham
10 - NOTTINGHAM Rock City
11 - CAMBRIDGE Corn Exchange
12 - SOUTHAMPTON O2 Guildhall

Catfish and the Bottlemen share video for "Hourglass"

Catfish and the Bottlemen have today shared a brand new video for their track "Hourglass", and being big fans of Ewan McGregor they would love him to officially feature in one of their videos, oh wait... you can watch it below!

Van McCann - "This is one of the best things we’ve been a part of and Honestly working with Sir Ewan was one of the funnest things I think I'll ever get to do. He's the most interesting and interested guy I've ever met. He's just fucking brilliant. Total gentleman! When people tell you not to meet the people you look up to, ARE YA MADDDD!!!!! He genuinely buzzes off the band. Sends me photos of him listening to us before he walks on-stage on his endless run of sold out Broadway. AND HE LIKES MY LYRICS! 

Honestly, I love him. It all makes me laugh my head off! His daughter Clara is a class A photographer as well! The artwork for the single is a photo of me and Ewan that she took! Videos for us are hard as we've got Austin Powers heads but this was just absolutely class craic!
Hope you're all well! We're all buzzing our end with what we've got planned for the rest of this year!
We're also HONOURED to say that due to high demand we've been moved to the MAINSTAGE AT RADIO 1's BIG WEEKEND! First festival of the summer! CAN'T WAIT!!!"

Catfish & The Bottlemen cover The Killers' "Read My Mind"

The Welsh indie-rocker quartet - Catfish & The Bottlemen - have covered The Killers' "Read My Mind" in session for Triple J, added in with just a little bit of R Kelly's "Ignition" - You can watch the cover just below.

Catfish & the Bottlemen announce Brixton Academy show

After seeing these guys last year support Little Comets at The Junction in Cambridge, it may be quite the rise for them to go and play Brixton Academy. Not for us, we've loved this band since we first laid our ears upon them, good on them for playing this size venue. The poster is below with all the info on it.

The band said

"Were so so so so so so so so so excited to announce our biggest London
show to date will be in BRIXTON ACADEMY on November 6th.

Playing this place off just our first album is a beyond a dream for us
and we can't seriously thank you lot enough for taking us there!

Tickets go on pre-sale WEDNESDAY morning and general sale FRIDAY!

Set those alarms folks and Lets rip the roof off the place
together....Not too far from those Football Stadiums now eh!!!!!!!

Spread the word x"

Prides share live mixtape, covering The 1975, Catfish & The Bottlemen, Taylor Swift and more

Prides are ending the year on a high with a live mixtape that sees them cover ten artists in a matter of minutes.

Speaking about the mixtape the band said...
"2014 has been a year where we spent a lot of time in a van listening to the radio. We decided to wrap up the year with one of our mixtapes of our favourite tracks, but this time we decided to play it live. These are the songs that we sang on the way back from shows, played incessantly whilst out on tour, and cranked when they came on the radio."

Prides - 2014 Mixtape
Ariana Grande (feat. The Weeknd) - "Love Me Harder"
Ryn Weaver – "Octahate"
The 1975 – "Settle Down"
Ella Henderson – "Ghost"
Catfish and the Bottlemen – "Cocoon"
Taylor Swift – "Out of the Woods"
Nick Jonas – "Jealous"
Iggy Azalea (feat. Charli XCX) – "Fancy"
Jessie Ware – "Tough Love"
Sam Smith – "Stay With Me"

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Catfish & The Bottlemen unveil "Pacifier" video feat. Steve Lamacq

Led by the enigmatic Van McCann, Catfish And The Bottlemen look set to put their stamp on 2014 with their stunning début album "The Balcony", and not only gaining plaudits from all quarters, but also going top ten album on its release last month. Now the band have unveiled a really great video featuring the - quite legendary - Steve Lamacq.

The single is out November 24th.

© Nathan McLaren-Stewart

Catfish and the Bottlemen Live UK Dates in 2015
March
Tues 24th GLASGOW, O2 ABC 

Thurs 26th NEWCASTLE, O2 Academy
Fri 27th MANCHESTER, O2 Academy
Sat 28th BIRMINGHAM, Institute
Tues 31st LONDON, O2 Shepherds Bush Empire
April
Wed 1st LONDON, O2 Shepherds Bush Empire
Fri 3rd BRISTOL, O2 Academy
Sat 4th SHEFFIELD, O2 Academy
Sun 5th LIVERPOOL, Guild of Students 

Tues 7th BELFAST, Limelight
Wed 8th DUBLIN, Whelan’s

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