Catch 22, London Camden Underworld
This gig was actually at the Islington Academy.
I’d never been to the Islington Academy before, I’d never seen any of the bands on the bill before and I hadn’t been to a ska show for ages so this was looking like a promising night indeed. The first thing to mention about North London’s swanky new venue is that it is in a shopping centre; how very rock ‘n’ roll. Second thing, drinks are a good £1 cheaper than any other venue I’ve been to in London which earns the place top marks in many people’s books, mine included. After eventually finding the venue, which turned into a mission of avoiding the temptation to see Scary Movie 3, we had just missed SONIC BOOM 6’s set which was almost as annoying as relying on London’s public transport to get you anywhere on time… without trying to sound like Victor Meldrew; £5.40? I don’t believe it!
Considering how much DOUGLAS tour, this was the first time I’d seen them play. I wouldn’t expect them to be on the same bill as CATCH 22 but it was a nice surprise nonetheless. They opened up with a very powerful energetic song which blew me away, reminding me of a punkier version of 100 REASONS only with less hair. Plenty of melodies, plenty of brutal guitar riffs and plenty of general rockage from the entertaining four-piece. Sounds like a good combination but something about DOUGLAS just wasn’t grabbing me and shaking me like a Polaroid picture on this occasion. I put this down to the expectation of seeing a ska band and complete knackered-ness rather than the band being bad. I’m definitely not going to write them off but they just didn’t bake my cake tonight. (6)
CATCH 22 were the reason I ventured out on a cold, dark, wet and generally nasty night, and there’s nothing like a bit of ska to cure a touch of ye old seasonal affection disorder. CATCH 22 are one of those rare bands that make a gig seem more like a party in terms of the atmosphere they create and they catchy, happy as hell (if hell was happy!?) music they play. I was led to believe that C22 mixed up a whole load of genres but from what I heard it was pretty much just ska-punk with the odd metal riff thrown in here and there, still, all good though and the crowd loved every minute of it. The legendary ‘Keasbey Knights’ was a highlight of the night, played at double the CD speed; it was a special event, like the ska equivalent of seeing Pennywise play ‘Bro-Hym’. Throughout their set, C22 constantly whipped up a frenzied skank pit in the crowd with no effort at all and in-between rocking out like the best thing to come out of New Jersey, barring Kevin Smith movies and Bigwig, they also apologised for their long absence from the UK, they also said they’d be back soon, I’m as sure as hell gonna be there! (8)
All in all, a cool night out, C22 have a great ability to put on a fun show and that they sure did. Finally got to see DOUGLAS play but missed SB6 which was disappointing as I’m hearing a lot of good things about them lately. The Carling Academy is a nice new venue; I shall look forward to visiting again and sampling some more cheap-ish alcohol prices.
Mike Frankal
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