Shoreditch’s Good Catch

Despite the economic crisis sweeping the nation, London is inherently a city for rich people. Unfortunately, this is often manifested in its nightlife and more and more venues are becoming all plush interiors and chamomile toilet paper. This is why it’s so nice to go out somewhere nobody cares if you scribble on the bathroom walls or start a makeshift mosh pit made up of about four scene kids. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Catch.

Tucked away in the alt-cool scene of Shoreditch, Catch gives off an eerie green glow at 22 Kingsland Road (Get it? Twenty-two?), but once you’re past the doors it’s a regular grungy club, specialising in up-and-coming rock acts. Neon backlit liquor bottles line the back of the top floor bar, accessible via a scarily steep winding staircase, where all the music happens. Anyone who doesn’t enjoy sweet guitar riffs and headbanging drummers is free to have a moderately-priced pint downstairs.

This week I saw Depot perform, an indie ska band from Ealing with a good sense of humour. Arms fly all over the place, generating heavy chords and spliced drum beats. They even have a trumpet. The boys are young and at times they have a hard time staying in harmony. That’s alright though, because they’re rockier than The White Stripes and dancier than Capdown. Who knows, they might be gracing a Rolling Stone cover one day.

One down, three to go. Suddenly an ocean of foam starts pouring into the bar from the bathrooms. Apparently ‘someone’ set off the fire extinguisher.

Birmingham band The Getaways take to the stage next. They are a stark too-old contrast to the too-young Depot. After an arduous sound check to make sure everything is just the way they want it, they belt out several energetic Oasis-type songs (with apt Oasis-type haircuts). Although the group isn’t any worse than the vast majority of what else is rockin’ on the London scene these days, they’re mostly just another forgettable foursome.

It must be said that Catch has an exceptionally good crowd. The bar is crawling with trendy Topshop-clad Debbie Harrys and Amy Winehouses. Fellas don unlaced Doc Martens and plaid shirts and aren’t too cool to dance, or too pretentious to do it seriously. The occasional inexplicably lost punter, like someone’s 60-year-old rocker grandpa head-bopping in the front row, gives the place a slightly psychedelic, odd feel (that, and the whole foam incident).

Jamie & The Lionhearts (see also: Spindle & Wit) hog the spotlight with the ultimate instrument of cool: a banjo. The quintet rocks a number of sexy indie songs, which sound coherent and energetic, until they introduce a redundant violin player into the mix. This is a perfect example of the distinction between what will look super-cool in promo shots, versus what actually sounds good. Keep the banjo though, the people love the freakin’ banjo.

The headlining act, young and trendy foursome Elfred and the Über-Peas, are what really brings the soiree to a climax (or it could be all the £3.10 JD & Cokes). Following down the weird-instrument route, choppy-haired Erin accompanies the garage beats and guitar riffs on a saxophone. The front few rows of the cramped room improvise a half-serious mosh and the crowd unites in awkward caffeinated dancing.

Unfortunately, the clock strikes midnight and this Cinderella must leave early to catch her tube train before it turns into a Thanksgiving pumpkin, effectively missing the post-climactic aftermath which tends to follow an exuberant, gratifying evening of 21st century rock. It’s venues like Catch that make London such a satisfying place to live. If only the underground stayed open later…

Catch
22 Kingsland Road
E2 8DA

Tel: 0872 148 3434