Catch 22 @ Islington Academy, UK
Live Reviews | Jan 1st, 1999
Opening Bands: Sonic Boom Six, Douglas
Date: January 23rd (?)
Venue: Islington Academy, UK
I arrived a bit late so I only caught half of Sonic Boom six’s set…….in some ways it could be said to be a blessing. Their set clearly showed their devotion to ska punk and their views against commercialized and exploited bands were clearly expressed (references to emerging band “funeral For A Friend”). Although they were only performing to 1/3rd of the crowd Catch 22 did, they seemed to enjoy performing whether or not the crowd participated to their fullest.
Next up was Douglas. Their set was full of energy, and the vocalist seemed to focus more on the performance rather than the singing, run around all over the stage, and trying to get the crowd more into the music he seemed to forget he was meant to be showing off their talent and impressing the audience. Their music is full of the emo and punk tunes that we are so used to, today, they failed to stand out from other emerging bands.
Finally Catch 22 graced the stage to a packed academy. Although they seemed to enjoy being here, they looked to be elsewhere at the beginning of the set, but as soon as the crowd was skanking, dancing and bouncing away, they were right at home, filling the venue with joyous anthemic sounds of more popular songs such as “Point The Blame” and “9mm and a Three-Piece Suit”, encouraging the crowd to keep dancing away. Coming to the end of the set and you could feel that they had been touched by the crowds participation, not just from this night but the ones before. Finally finishing with “12341234” pleasing the crowd to the fullest, the crowd sharing the same feelings as the band and not wanting to go.
Definitely a band to go and checkout.