Gig review: CATS IN SPACE – Sub 89, Reading, 26 October 2022

November 7th, 2022 by andynathan

2022 has seen the release of what for me is Cats in Space’s finest hour yet in their fifth studio release ‘Kickstart the Sun’. The double album fully justified their decision last year to curtail some tour dates to concentrate on making new product.

One of the rescheduled dates was this show in Reading. Although the crowd was not large (a recurring problem in these difficult times for live music) quite a number of us had made the trip west from London to ‘the shire’ for our first chance to hear the new material.

I made sure I was there in time for the support in Matt Mitchell and the Coldhearts, being a fan of the singer going back to his days in Pride some 20 years ago. Other than a brief appearance at Ramblin Man Festival in 2019 this was the first time I’d seen his new(ish) band in full electric form. The frontman was engaging and as cheerful as I could remember him and not shy of pulling a few poses to get the crowd going.

Their sound is hard to pigeonhole and on numbers like ‘Home’, where Matt played acoustic guitar, nineties Bon Jovi and Matchbox 20 were the instant comparators, whereas heavier and angstier numbers like the title track of new album ‘Mission’, and ‘Just Like I Knew You Would’ reminded me of Alter Bridge or more accurately Myles Kennedy solo.

The band also seemed to be coming from different places image-wise and musically with the guitarist obviously the metal element, though I found it peculiar when his solo intro drowned out a very personal story from Matt as he introduced ‘Don’t You Think Its Time?’ The bulk of a 40 minute set came from the new album but they closed with an old favourite ‘Black Diamonds’, it’s catchy ‘I hope you find what you’re looking for’ chorus soaring over a riff that was a cross between Led Zeppelin and Audioslave.

Rightly, Cats in Space’s current masterpiece featured prominently in the first half of their set, beginning with ‘King of Stars’ with some massive Styx- like harmony vocals emphasising the way they have dialled up the pomp rock that has always been there, as proven by the way it was followed by the title track of debut album ‘Too Many Gods’, with twin guitars from Greg Hart and Dean Howard. The former, the Les Paul-wielding principal songwriter and brainchild behind the Cats sound and the latter, always pulling entraining poses with an infectious grin on his face, were both excellent melodic players in their own right, always serving the song.

Other new songs included the AOR-ish melodies of ‘Poke the Witch’ and ‘Teenage Millionaire’ with a satisfyingly full, nay massive, sound of huge vocal harmonies and crunchy guitars. The lengthy keyboard and vocal intro to the title track was a perfect demonstration of how the low-key Andy Stewart’s thorough piano and other keyboard work really gives their sound a unique dimension- and ‘Charlie’s Ego’ showed the Vaudevillian side to their writing is very much still there. These were interspersed with a trip to the very start with ‘Mr Heartache’ showing off some 10cc influences.

Singer Damien Edwards’ voice was admirable in pitch and range and he did not miss a single high note but his stage presence is unusually low key, choosing not to indulge in the rabble rousing of a traditional rock frontman. It is on the ballads that I thought he really excelled, carrying ‘Hero’ almost acapaella with support from Andy’s keys, and you could see jaws drop as he nailed the high notes on ‘1,000,000 Miles’, supported by equally lush harmonies.

While Damien handled older material like ‘Timebomb’ with ease, I must admit I prefer the songs from the last two albums. The previous album ‘Atlantis’ had not been fully toured, so it was great to hear a few songs from it, beginning in medley style as the progressive strains of ‘Marionettes’ segued into the title track with its slow burning chorus and anthemic climax.

Bassist Jeff Brown whipped up enthusiasm before ‘Thunder In The Night’, the disco-influenced pastiche – complete with suitable synths – at odds with much of their set but rightly a live favourite, got a few bouncing. His vocals also add significantly to the richness of the band’s sound and his contribution to ‘The Mad Hatter’s Tea Party’ was a case in point. Whereas most of the songs hitherto had reflected their studio counterparts faithfully, ‘I Fell Out Of Love With Rock’n’Roll’ exploded from its polished beginnings as the band jammed out, even including a cheeky snatch of Zeppelin’s ‘Rock and Roll’.

The gig having flown by, I was surprised that was the end but there were a couple of choice encores: first ‘Listen To The Radio’, far rockier than on album but still with the hooks that make it doubly ironic that certain rock radio stations (not GRTR!) refuse to play them; then a first album epic in ‘The Greatest Story Never Told’, Jeff and Damien sharing the vocals and again ending in a furious rock out with both guitarists soloing with a Lizzy-esque fire and panache as they and Jeff pulled some great poses.

What really also struck me was how professional the whole Cats in Space experience is- the crowd’s enjoyment of these lovingly crafted songs enhanced by an absolutely perfect sound and lights. It was a show of undisputed quality, confirming the band have reached an even higher peak than their previous high standards. And to the missing people, it’s not too late to catch the rest of the tour which includes a London date in December.

Review and Photos by Andy Nathan

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Power Plays w/c 11 November 2024

ARCANE MOON Hello Sun (indie)
S8NT ELEKTRIC XTC (Long Branch Records)
ARCANA KINGS Here We Go (Curtain Call Records)
KLOGR face The Unknown (Zeta Factory)
BEYOND UNBROKEN Dance With The Dead (FiXT)
REVENGIN Decadent Feeling (Wormholedeath)

Featured Albums w/c 11 November 2024

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Singer Songwriter)