It’s no secret that Catfish and the Bottlemen have had a rocky few years, with the departure of both their drummer Bob Hall and their guitarist Johnny Bond in 2021, with Johnny staying to complete their final 2021 shows as a session musician. In late 2023 rumours started to swirl of a return, sparked in part by Catfish appearing on a booking agent’s roster.
In early 2024 after years of radio silence from the band, posters started popping up with the text “showtime”, seeming to tease something, but it was unclear what. It was soon revealed that Showtime was in fact the name of a new single, to be released on 22nd February 2024. Fans were ecstatic to see the return of their favourite band, and soon we started getting announcements for UK and Ireland summer shows, as well as a Reading and Leeds festival headline slot and tours of the United States and Australia. Catfish were finally back! Or were they?
With everything seeming to go smoothly at first, Catfish and the Bottlemen (now down to just two members of the previous line up, Van McCann and Benji Blakeway, and two new session musicians, Kai Smith on guitar and James Compton on drums) successfully completed their summer shows in Liverpool, Edinburgh, and Cardiff, as well as their headline slots at Reading & Leeds. Old and new fans alike were delighted to see them again, we attended 2 of their shows ourselves and the excitement in the crowds was clear. The last time they headlined Reading and Leeds in 2021 it was clear something was off and there was tension within the band, so seeing them headline again and perform excellently this time around (albeit with a few technical issues out of their control, thanks storm Lilian) felt like redemption for them.
After Reading and Leeds, they were due to play a headline show in Dublin on the 31st August, their first concert in Ireland since 2019. Unfortunately, due to band illness, the concert was cancelled just ten minutes before doors were due to open. Over the next few days, their Australia and United States tours were cancelled too, with refunds being issued from the ticket retailers and no signs of rescheduling. We haven’t really heard much from the band since, with the exception of a show in Heaton Park in Manchester being announced for next year, a new song being quietly included on the Fifa soundtrack, and a management company, Hard 8 Working Group, twice announcing that they would be working with Catfish going forwards but both times deleting the posts after a few hours.
This brings us to new year’s day 2025. Almost right on midnight UK time, Hard 8 Working Group announced once again on their Instagram that they have welcomed Catfish and the Bottlemen to their roster. It seems the previous two times the announcement may have been made early by mistake resulting in deletion, with the current post looking like it’s here to stay. Incredible news and a happy new year indeed for Catfish fans. Will we finally see that fourth album in 2025?
