Catfish and the Bottlemen have broken their social media silence to unveil a cryptic image with a link to sign up to their mailing list, putting fans on red alert…
The image shows a piece of paper, similar to a gig poster, with the band’s logo, and written underneath is “5:00pm DOORS, 6:00pm SHOWTIME”, so what does this mean?
Today in Manchester, a row of the same posters have been spotted on an advertising board outside, with the date “22nd February 2024”.
The hourglass has now passed 6pm this evening, and the same date has been circulated on an official email from the band, so it is likely fans will have to wait another 10 days to find out full details.
However, the rumour mill is in full swing, and there are a few plausible outcomes now following their shock announcement of a Reading & Leeds headline set in 2024.
Firstly, they won’t be going into headline sets at a festival as big as Reading & Leeds without warming up, so a tour, or at least a short run of dates, is basically certain.
This also coincides with the “DOORS”, “SHOWTIME”, and gig poster theme, and we know they have signed to the roster of a new promotion company in the U.S. so there must be further live plans in the pipeline.
So could the band announce UK tour dates next week? Without new music it is possible, but surely the big comeback needs to be accompanied with a new album?
Which brings us to another possibility, could “Showtime” be a new song?
It fits the mould of Catfish and the Bottlemen, with every song title comprising just one word in the past.
Which means technically “Doors” could signify a double single release… could they release a new song twice in one night?
And it would make more sense to announce the new era with a brand new single, and potentially confirm the band’s new look lineup without Jonny “Bondy” Bond and Bob Hall.
Tour dates would be welcome news for fans, but it would still maintain the mystery surrounding the band and would provide no clarity on some big questions.
But then again, maybe that could be intentional.
It is a longshot, but we think it could be both new music AND an upcoming tour set to be announced on 22nd February.
With all the controversy surrounding the band fallout and lack of communication, this needs to be BIG, and it looks like their marketing team is going out of their way to build this up.
Frontman, Van McCann has been cocooned away for some time, and must have a host of new material written for the encore of Catfish and the Bottlemen.
This makes it likely that, with their return now confirmed, 2024 brings the fourth album, and hopefully a band lineup that delivers on the live stage in the same fashion that propelled this band to the forefront of UK indie music.
We’ll be keeping an eye on the Catfish announcements as they arrive, so will share anything as soon as it is released.
…
Follow us here:
You can check out all episodes of our podcast on Spotify, Apple and YouTube, including interviews with DMA’s, Clint Boon, Robbie Knox, The Wombats, Jamie Webster, Clinton Baptiste, Scheiffer Bates, Omid Djalili and plenty more!
