Catfish & The Bottlemen headlined Reading Festival tonight (August 25) – here’s everything they played.
It’s the second time the Welsh band have headlined the festival. Tonight’s highly-anticipated performance followed their set at Leeds on Friday (August 23), which went off without a hitch despite Storm Lilian wreaking havoc elsewhere on the lineup.
This time, though, they weren’t so lucky. Things started well, when Van McCann and co entered the main stage to the sound of ‘Helter Skelter’ by The Beatles before breaking into ‘Longshot’ from their 2019 album ‘The Balance‘.
By the second track, though, the band were subject to some technical difficulties during ‘Kathleen’. It meant the song, and their set, were ultimately cut short.
catfish power at reading cut out naahhhh
— gee (@georgtiia) August 25, 2024
catfish played 1 and a half songs and got cut off reading 1-0 bella
— bell
(@isabellaliily) August 25, 2024
They returned from a 15-minute break with McCann saying, “Can you hear us now? We don’t need no guitars and shit,” before – aptly – bursting into ‘Soundcheck’.
Elsewhere, there was a cheeky, brief tribute to fellow Welsh band Stereophonics, as they played a snippet of ‘Bartender And The Thief’ during the outro of ‘Fallout’. Inflatable alligators were also released into the crowd at one point.
The band sailed through a setlist of hits from their three albums while releasing inflatable alligators into the crowd. Marking their return to the festival after a three-year absence, they introduced ‘7’ from 2016’s ‘The Ride‘ saying: “You know the one?”
Though mired in technical mishaps, they managed to squeeze in ‘Cocoon’ and ‘Tyrants’, before departing on ‘Hourglass’. Check out the full setlist below.
Catfish & The Bottlemen’s Reading Festival 2024 setlist was:
‘Kathleen’
‘Soundcheck’
‘Pacifier’
‘Twice’
‘Fallout’ (with snippet of Stereophonics’ ‘Bartender and the Thief’)
‘2all’
‘Homesick’
‘Rango’
‘Outside’
‘Fluctuate’
‘7’
‘Cocoon’
Catfish & The Bottlemen announced their return with their comeback single ‘Showtime‘, which the band previously teased by posting a six-second snippet of the track on their social media channels back in February. The band also released a pre-order of ‘Showtime’ on a white 7″ vinyl pressing along with new merchandise.
Last month, the band shared the bonus track ‘ASA’ from their upcoming 10th anniversary reissue of ‘The Balcony’. The track was originally released as the B-side to ‘Rango’ in 2013.
The Welsh band are preparing to commemorate a decade since their seminal debut album was released. The reissue is set to drop September 16 – pre-order yours here.
Along with ‘ASA’, ‘The Balcony’ and its 10th-anniversary reissue is set to feature Ewan McGregor’s cover of ‘Hourglass’, ‘Rango’ (single version) and three other bonus tracks.
Additionally, there will be a limited-edition 7″ singles box set on offer, with only 2,000 copies available to purchase.
They also announced their first-ever stadium tour, set to kick off in August 2025. Tickets are on sale now and you can get yours here.
Check back at NME here for the latest news, reviews, interviews, photos and more from Reading and Leeds 2024.
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