Despite latest album ‘Kickstart the Sun’ being for me their finest achievement, Cats in Space’s autumn tour in 2022 was still bedevilled by audiences a fraction of what they deserved. It therefore represented a bold gamble when, post-tour, the band advertised that in a change of emphasis they were now looking for theatre venues only in order to do a more spectacular show in 2023, that matched their musical ambitions.

The opener in a series of dates that extend on and off for most of the rest of the year was at South Hill Park, a stately home turned long-established Arts Centre in Bracknell. Interestingly this is just down the road from where I spent much of my childhood, but in the eighties rock shows there were thin on the ground and its mixture of foreign films and classical recitals appealed more to my parents than me!

The venue’s Wilde Theatre was a perfect setting, a well appointed box shape, on three levels yet not so large as to feel cavernous, and I am pretty sure the crowd was significantly up on last autumn’s standing show in the ‘shire’ at nearby Reading.

They had made a special production effort with the band’s cat logo and TV-type screens either side showing graphics and videos relevant to each song. Allied to a good light show, their smart and spangly stage clobber and even a Swarovski Crystal figurine of that cat sitting on the piano, the impression was (to quote one of their songs) that they were putting on their Sunday best.

As on the ‘Kickstart the Sun’ album, they opened with ‘King of Stars’, and particularly impressive was the keyboard work from the low key Andy Stewart which gives all of their work an added dimension. Even one of the inevitable odd first night technical gremlins could not spoil the more straight ahead rock of ‘Teenage Millionaires’, and by the time of the big AOR influenced sounds of ‘Goodbye To the American Dream’ it was clear the first of two sets was being given over to a (near) complete rendition of the last album.

With a lengthy keyboard intro, the title track exemplified the over the top pomp that characterises much of the album, but was then followed by some more reflective tunes. ‘A Big Balloon’, with melodies reminiscent of ‘Northern Lights’ by Renaissance started with Greg Hart playing acoustic, then Damien Edwards showed off his remarkable vocal range on both ‘Hero’, to a backdrop of what I assumed were families and friends of the band no longer with us, and ‘1,000,000 Miles’, accompanied just by Andy on piano for much of the song.

Watching a show on a bigger stage in a tiered theatre environment also gave me a greater opportunity than normal to keep an eye on drummer and co-founder Steevie Bacon and witness his individual contributions to the songs, from subtle embellishments of the cymbals or hi- hat to driving songs to a conclusion with an urgent but powerful flourish.

‘Fifty-One Pillow Bed’ had a very Byrds- like guitar refrain (unusually for this most seventies influenced of bands) and ‘Poke the Witch’ the first twin guitar harmonies of the night, but after ‘Charlie’s Ego’ the best of the first set was saved for last, with ‘Bootleg Bandoleros’ making its live debut. There was so much going on, from a lengthy intro on acoustic from Greg who it seemed could not then wait for a roadie to wheel it away so he could crank out the riff, leading into lengthy solos from both him and Dean Howard before they combined, a strong whiff of mid seventies Styx (another recurring album theme) and culminating in some brief audience participation.

After a 20 minute break and a change of clothing, the second set was effectively a ‘best of’, beginning with the title tracks from their first two albums, ‘Scarecrow’ and the more regularly heard ‘Too Many Gods’. Both had an epic pomp feel that comes over better live, and as friends remarked afterwards a greater emphasis on vocal harmonies than the later material.

‘Timebomb’ also rocked harder, but the ballad ‘Scars’ was a showcase not only for Damien, but Dean who was playing like a man possessed all evening, both in an instrumental intro with Andy and an exquisite closing solo. To these ears anyway, first album favourite ‘Mr Heartache’ now feels a little twee and lightweight now that the band have expanded their musical ambition.

The pace picked up with ‘Johnny Rocket’ with its amusing video and catchy ‘gonna be a spaceman’ refrain, then the progressive and symphonic elements were dialled up in a pair of tracks from ‘Atlantis’, delivered almost medley style, in ‘Marionettes’ and the title track.

With a throbbing bass intro from Jeff Brown, the crowd finally got to their feet to that brilliant disco pastiche ‘Thunder in the Night’, albeit needing a little encouragement from Greg, drawing attention to his t-shirt quoting the ‘can’t stand the disco music’ lyric.

The Cats in Space sets are always a master of pacing, so people were kept on their feet with ‘Mad Hatter’s Tea Party’ and ‘Listen To the Radio’, with a massive chorus made for exactly that, making it all the more ironic they struggle to get airplay. Damien introduced the last song and the first part of ‘Greatest Story Never Told’ saw an exchange of lead vocals between him and Jeff-easily good enough to be the lead singer in most bands- in the slow first section, but then turned into a full on rock out.

At this point even the second set had been over an hour and I thought they could respectably have called it a day, yet we were treated to a couple of encores. After the out and out rock of another of their many satires on modern musical trends in ‘Hologram Man’, came a final treat in ‘I Fell Out Of Love With Rock N Roll’. I found my attention dragged in two directions- one the video backdrop of a montage of band members as youthful big-haired hopefuls, the other the elegiac lyrics and a song that again built from a melodic, Queen-like beginning to a full on jam, featuring a snatch of Zeppelin’s ‘Rock and Roll’ and the on stage movement that always delights, notably from Greg who is a master of the low slung Les Paul poses.

Comfortably their longest set I’ve seen to date, this was certainly a lavish treat of their catalogue. The theatre format was better suited than more traditional small rock clubs in bringing out the grandeur of their musical arrangements, and, combined with the obvious efforts made to put on a proper show, turned this gamble into a stunning success for my money.

Review and Photos by Andy Nathan

Cats In Space are the August entrants in “The GRTR! Grotto of Greatness”. On 1 August we will be publishing a major retrospective reflecting coverage at Get Ready to ROCK! as part of our 20th anniversary celebrations. Check out our recent news item

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