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Why fans are fearing cancellation of Catfish and The Bottlemen’s massive Manchester gig
Keeping everything crossed.
Thomas Melia -
10th June 2025 
Indie rockers Catfish and The Bottlemen are playing a headline show at Heaton Park in Manchester, but plenty of gig-goers have a genuine fear of a potential cancellation.
The Welsh band known for their stacked roster of hits, including ‘Cocoon’, ‘Kathleen’, ‘7’, ‘Pacifier’ and many more, are set to play Heaton Park on 13 June, but there has already been a fair amount of scepticism among fans online.
Just last year, Catfish and The Bottlemen cancelled an array of international shows, including one rather long-awaited gig in Ireland.
This Irish date would’ve marked the band’s first show in the country in five years; however, 15 minutes before doors were due to open, the Dublin date got cancelled.
No comments were made by the band as to why this decision happened, instead, all updates and communication came from the ticket company directly.
MCD Productions, who were in charge of hosting the would-be gig at Fairview Park, revealed that the reason for the abrupt cancellation of Catfish’s Ireland gig was due to ‘artist illness’, stating that all attendees would be issued and are entitled to a full refund.
The following week, Catfish also cancelled all of their US and Australia tour with no official statement from the rock group, and fans were frustrated to say the least.
Two weeks after these stark cancellations, the indie rockers announced two stadium shows: Cardiff and London, with the Manchester date in Heaton Park revealed a month later – all scheduled for this summer.
The issues don’t just lie with gig cancellations either; the band’s lineup has been in turmoil over recent years, with musicians joining and leaving this Welsh rock act.
Most notably, former guitarist Johnny Bond, who originally left the band in 2021, issued a statement in 2022 via Instagram about “behaviour constantly re-occurring” that he found to be “intolerable”.
Only two original members remain: Van McCann, lead singer and now the main guitarist since Billy Bibby left in 2021, and Benji Blakeway, the band’s bassist and backing vocalist.
Many have speculated on some of that behaviour, and the source behind at least some of the band’s problems is the extremely talented, charismatic, but often frenetic frontman himself; you only need to search his name on the likes of TikTok to fall down the rabbit hole.
While there are lots dismissing some of his behaviour on stage as nothing more than loose, in-the-moment ‘rockstar energy’, others have expressed concern for his well-being at times.
Catfish’s latest Instagram post reporting the fact that the Heaton Park date is now sold out has been met with hundreds of comments from fans worrying that it won’t go ahead.
One user wrote, “Are u gonna cancel this one 7 mins before doors open too?”, while another took to the comment section to say, “I’ll be there. Don’t know about van tho”.
Replies to their tweets on X (formerly Twitter) have been similar too, as one fan writes: “Don’t worry guys, it’ll be cancelled soon!”.
These are, of course, just a taste of a much larger sample size, as their ‘comeback’ in February 2024 with ‘Showtime’ – their first new song in five years – looked like it could be the start of a new album cycle, but there hasn’t been anything else since then.
Barring the 10th anniversary version of their debut LP, The Balcony, and the re-release of old single and cult favourite ‘ASA’, there’s very little to suggest that there is even a latest project that currently exists to make any progress on.
Catfish and The Bottlemen are scheduled to play Heaton Park in Manchester on 13 June – let’s hope it’s not a ‘Longshot’. For those of you going, do you have any actual doubts whether or not it will go ahead?
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Featured Images – Publicity Pictures (via Supplied)/Kaleb Nimz (via Unsplash)
