Catfish And The Bottlemen, with The Jebs, The Beautiful Sleazy and Reporters!.

Bedford Esquires Lev 2. Friday 26th July 2013.

After The Pad Presents hosted the utterly fantastic Ash gig at the Corn Exchange three days ago, for this reviewer tonight's gig has very much an 'after the Lord Mayor's show' air about it. I have a very flat feeling about the whole thing, but thankfully there are enough high spots to keep my interest. Crowdwise, although there are masses of tumbleweed for large parts of this gig, it did fill up slightly towards headline time.

First on stage are REPORTERS! . They are a pleasant enough indie pop duo with slamming drums and oodles of guitar widdling. This is sometimes extremely tricky to pull off completely (oooh missus).
Judgement is fairly mixed, but ultimately they fail to leave us fully satisfied. Remembering this two piece from a previous visit, it feels like their vocals have been honed and beefed up quite considerably. However, it is still not strong enough and Reporters! still sound like a band shorn of a vital component, perhaps a member that has bunked off sick. I make this comment in comparison to other bands of this ilk who have graced the main stage in the past twelve months. A delicate set for sure with a lightweight feel. They say little although we do get "thanks a lot" after about three or four songs. The set does appear to have been mysteriously guided from the ether by Mr P Doherty. His influence is still here after 22nd June and it almost dissipates into a two piece tribute to the "Up the bracket" Libertines. It's not without problems as the dreaded broken string mars "Meet me in the morning". It's just not the same with five strings is it? They leave with a whimper on "Trouble in paradise".

THE BEAUTIFUL SLEAZY are a personal favourite, serving Esquires so well during the past few years. With their bright chiming guitars, they don't disappoint. I always feel there is room for some overblown psyche rock. This is a blissful forty minutes in this band's seventies driven time warp with yelping vocals amidst lots of fuzzed up noise. Their material always shows restless imagination and naturally throws up plenty of inspired moments. They are indeed "All fired up". Due to the extreme heat, vocalist Dan Cahill has his long dark hair tied up in a bunch at the back. Obviously not a style guru he is attired in his M&S vest, normally covered up for the winter. The five piece gain from their keyboardist who billows out some organic sounds. The indie blues rock hybrid is perfect for this sweltering, almost tropical weather. So laid back with subtle grooves. We all ponder that it is a pity we are not outside instead of this dark pit. Dan's tambourine is a somewhat mythical instrument. It takes pride of place on stage, but it has it's own hook on the back of the keyboard. It's appearance and utilisation is a moment to savour. So much anticipation for a percussion 'aid' that most of us only experienced at lower school.
This Sleazy set appears to be them having a fair gas, fun rules and it suits them. A few technical glitches but the band constantly laugh it off. In fact they smile quite a lot. Their last song "Keep calm and carry on" could almost be the evening's motto. The Beautiful Sleazy were back in Bedford. Terrific stuff and great to see you again.

THE JEBS represent Bedford proudly in their normal cocksure manner. Confidence plays a huge part in any band's stage presence and this five piece never suffer from a deficiency in that department. With it being so hot on stage, a couple of Jebs are wearing shorts, but guitarist Billy takes it one step further with his rather innovative headwear. A long flowing bath towel covers his head under his baseball cap! Catchy and familiar tunes rule, you know the ones, but "Me and you" does inflate my state of well being. An appropriate cover of their idols' "I bet you look good on the dancefloor" gets the fans dancing with delight. Uplifting.

Headlining are the awfully named CATFISH AND THE BOTTLEMEN (decent band, shocking name). This four piece are based in Llandudno, Wales although their exuberant front man talks with a broad northern accent. He is my star player of the night and is quite a character. He certainly leaves a mark on this sometimes colourless show. He politely apologises for it not being too busy (not your fault fella), but does add, perhaps prophetically, that in the future (no doubt when they are rich and famous) it will be "the one you were at". His first impressions of Bedford are quite revealing. He openly declares that we have "nice women" but it's a "horrible town", before adding wryly "It's the opposite in Llandudno". Because of the size of the crowd, he sympathetically sides with us and even offers some pizza from their rider. How very kind. These indie rock'n'roll lads were recently and accurately described in Artrocker magazine as "rapscallions". Watching this performance tonight it's a mighty fine description. As a band they are still noisily finding their feet. Laddish wrath dovetails rogueish smiles. They heartily exude such positive energy, especially on "Sidewinder". Naturally delighted at being added to the forthcoming Reading and Leeds festival bill, "Pacifier" is quite literally a flying furball of both noise and action. It's probably my lasting snapshot of Catfish And The Bottlemen. A varied introduction, but good.