On Saturday October 10th, Catfish and The Bottlemen played to a sold-out House of Blues Chicago. Their tour is called Catfish and The Bottlemen presented by Ones to Watch, their 2nd United States tour. Earlier this summer, I saw them play in Milwaukee to a much smaller crowd than this past weekend.
I had never been to the House of Blues in Chicago before, and it was a smaller, more intimate venue than I was expecting. The decor and atmosphere of the restaurant, gift store, and stage combined with the smaller floor area and larger balconies made for an unforgettable night.
Catfish and The Bottlemen have been a band since 2007 when they formed in Wales (UK), but they only have one album. Their debut album, "The Balcony", was released in the UK in late 2014 (early 2015 for the United States). This being my 2nd Catfish show, I was seeing them sing the exact same songs over again, but I didn't care.
This Chicago show has been sold out for awhile, and it was one of the few sold out shows on Catfish's tour. The boys had been to Chicago on their past tour, and you could tell they were excited to be back. All 4 guys were very energetic and fun to watch onstage, especially the lead singer Van. It was incredible to watch his stage presence evolve over 4 months, he deserved to be playing to a sold out crowd.
As I mentioned earlier, Catfish and The Bottlemen have not released any music recently. Their setlist was slightly different than when I saw them this summer, and although it consisted of the same songs, the show was still amazing to watch. Almost all of their songs on their album, "The Balcony", are upbeat tunes filled with a lot of guitar and drums. My personal favorite song of their's happens to be an exception, their acoustic, heartfelt song called "Hourglass". "Hourglass" live was amazing, the whole crowd was quiet and hushed for the one slow Catfish song.
Thank you to Catfish and The Bottlemen and the House of Blues for an unforgettable night. If you're reading this, go look up Catfish! You won't be disappointed.
