One of the best stories for me to follow over the last two and a half years has been that of Cats In Space. It has been a journey of many twists and turns, and this latest phase saw a tour closing at Islington Assembly Hall in grand style and panache.
Cats In Space
Islington Assembly Hall – 15 December 2024
Words And Photography: Steve Ritchie
The downstairs seating area was getting full, with some standing area around the venue, when the intro tape burst into life. Cats In Space is a spectacle these days, and the three screens at the back of the band burst into life as the six gentlemen took to the stage.
Opening with Too Many Gods, Time Machine (the first of five from the new album) and Clown In Your Nightmare, there is a lot going on. It’s bold, visually awesome and sounds great in this Islington Assembly Hall.
When you manage to grasp a breath and look around, there are lots of smiling faces. Everyone knows that watching Cats In Space is a family thing. For all that are happy there, each has an element of anguish as they think of bassist Jeff Brown sitting out these shows due to a devastating personal tragedy.
All present were sending Jeff and his family their love in their thoughts while watching Ricky Howard, Dean’s son and bass player for the Australian Pink Floyd, filling Jeff’s spot. Ricky played a blinder.
We are very much into a bold era for the band. Kickstart The Sun demonstrates this ably. Damien Edwards is resplendent in his gold “frock coat,” if a little warm under the lights. The piano of Andy Stewart cuts through wonderfully while the guitars kick in, in the middle of the song in that classic Cats sound.
We get red skies on the screen behind Steevi Bacon, who is hitting things like a man possessed but with a big smile. The Cat behind him and the two screens beside him fill with red skies. Stage right, you have the classic London silhouette, with Big Ben, Tower Bridge and more. Stage left is after some dystopian disaster, with that Cats logo slap bang in the middle of a crumbling wasteland.
As Kickstart The Sun gets towards its close, Dean Howard throws in a big solo, and then the whole band finish big and receives massive applause.
We get some Johnny Rocket before Dean and Andy thrill with Broken Hearted, while the Velvet Rush provides the romance for the evening. The new song, Immortal, is one that works exceptionally well live, nicely up-tempo with smashing drums at the end. This is another to get big cheers.
Bootleg Bandoleros, from Kickstart The Sun, kicks some arse too live. You get the wind effect as Greg hits the acoustic guitar. He milks this bit, as he should, and gets the whoops from the crowd. The song builds wonderfully, with simple bass underpinning things.
The screen behind Steevi shows ocean waves and an old ocean boat bobbing up and down. Greg chucks in a super solo. This song is all about atmosphere. Dean is back again, following up Greg’s solo, and then they join in a delightful dual effect for the crescendo of the song. I loved the cassettes on the screen behind Steevi as the song has a huge finish to bigger applause.
Occam’s Razor (Not The End Of The World) leads the charge to the finish. There is no messing here. The piano cuts through superbly and Dean’s solo is awesome. There is a really good sound tonight. The balance between instruments and voices is nice. Steevi brings the song to a close, arms aloft. He is pumped.
Thunder In The Night follows with its cool, grinding riff. There are beautiful pinks on the screens during the chorus. Dean throws some guitar there, brief but effective.
There is time for a quick bit of power troubles on stage, but Cats In Space sail through that and throw out Mad Hatter’s Tea Party. The boys are on a roll, with some cool guitar from Greg to Dean, while the drums shine through, all underpinned by wonderful piano.
Damien introduces Greatest Story Never Told, saying that Jeff is at home where he needs to be. He says this is a song he normally sings with Jeff, but for one last time, he will sing on his own. It is a poignant moment felt by all, and when Damien thanks Ricky, we all have the chance to share some energy.
To close, we run through Hologram Man, with the band introductions towards the end of the song. The final chorus chants of “Hologram Man” are sung with gusto and, after a brief pause, we get I Fell Out Of Love With Rock ‘n’ Roll. It’s an epic finish.
2024 was Cats In Space first year with a record label. They also had a Number 1 album in several charts as well. It’s been a team effort over the last thirty months, with the likes of James Heron and others helping the band provide the live spectacle.
I’m quite astounded that the YouTube video for 1,000,000 Miles has ‘only’ 14k views. My perception is that since they started playing venues that are more suited to their stage show, more people have come through the door to watch, listen and experience.
That’s good news, yes. But, as tonight again showed, there is such a level of quality here, that the family deserves to be bigger. It really is good fun. Maybe time will tell.
Hats off to Willie Dowling, with bassist Andy, and The Invisible Band for opening the evening. There is a lot of noise coming from the pair on stage but tracks like The Gravy Train, The Ballad Of Sadie Goldman and Fuck You Goodbye came across really well.
You can hear drums and plenty of harmonising voices coming from The Invisible Band, which is not my cup of tea in a live environment, but it does pique my interest in his album. The Quireboys lad will be on tour next year with a drummer. So keep your eyes out!
