Mat McHugh & The Black Bird,Cats are Black @ The Zoo(05/03/09)

Thu 12th Mar, 2009 in Gig Reviews

When I first heard about this gig there were two questions that instantly popped into my head: a) I wonder if Mat McHugh and the Black Birds will play any of The Beautiful Girls songs, and b) who the hell are Cats of Black??

To my surprise, the majority of the crowd had already arrived for the evening, with 100-or-so people mingling comfortably around The Zoo, it became obvious that tonight was going to be an intimate laid-back gig, with the crowd comprising a small group of big Beautiful Girls supporters.

Cats are Black kicked of the show, with singer Matty Woo holding a guitar that looked much too big for his small frame, accompanied by drummer Andy. They began with a warm tune that was quite a different and unique sound in an acoustic/indie/blues/country sort of way.

For the second song, a stunning girl called Frankie entered the stage (who we soon found out was the girlfriend of drummer Andy, and Andy was the brother of lead singer Matty Woo.) “It’s all in the family,” Matty joked, before pointing out his charming mum in the crowd, who gave a little curtsy. The next song was more intense and polished than the first, with Frankie singing powerful yet sweet backup vocals accompanied by a tambourine. Frankie did appear to be a little timid, perhaps from stage fright, however this added to her innocent disposition. At this point in time Andy rocked an amazing drum solo, and instantly the music starting sounding more heavy and commanding.

Matty introduced himself as Mat McHugh’s tour manager, and explained how it was spontaneously decided newly formed Cats are Black would support the tour, writing the songs just a week ago! It was impossible to tell these well crafted songs had been whipped out of the air only days ago, but explained why previous Google and Myspace searches returned no results for the band.

As the songs continued they sounded more and more country-like, with the final tune a lot slower, showing more character and emotion than the others. Matty finished the set with some intense vocal solos, proving the diversity and dominance in his voice.

Mat McHugh & The Black Bird were weclomed to the stage by a very excited crowd. The Black Bird was comprised of Beautiful Girls Producer Ian Pritchett on bass, Beautiful Girls drummer Bruce Braybrooke, and an unfamiliar face belonging to the keyboardist, who was using a Melodica (Wind Piano). Much to the delight of the audience, they opened with Darling, This Scene Must End. McHugh had his eyes shut for most of the song, a powerful way of showing its significance.

Mat continued with Loneliness, another track from Seperatisia, which was similar to some of the Beautiful Girls older music. The track was more upbeat, and started to get the crowd moving. Under the Landslide was next, and projected a beautiful and personal vibe, as if we were being let into the secrets of McHugh’s life.

As if Mat wasn’t used to the subduedness of the crowd, he joked to the audience they’d have to “fucking sit through it and grin and bear it” before they played a few Beautiful Girls songs. This definitely cheered up the crowd as the eyes pop out of several heads in excitement. After three more songs from Seperatisia, McHugh told the audience they’d better sing the next one “fucking loud!” The beginning notes from Dela echoed through the building, followed by the screams of some very wound up fans.

With the whole crowd signing along, the audience’s thrilled smiles matched those of the band’s. Next was the familiar tunes Let’s Take the Long Way Home and Music, followed by a very cool reggae version of Over and Over (Ring the Alarm). McHugh stopped to point out the fan blowing in drummer Bruce’s hair, making him look rather like a hilarious wanna-be-model. “How about you play the next song,” Bruce laughed, before the sounds of Periscopes quickly took the attention away from him.

I’ll be for You had a new funky style, followed by the set closer and personal fave The Bottle. The band left the stage with a quick – œthank you,’ however the engaged audience new this wasn’t the end. Simultaneously, the crowd started stomping their feet and clapping their hands to bring McHugh back on stage. So far he’d perfectly mixed old and new songs, meaning at this stage no one had any idea what to expect next.

The whole show proved to be beyond all expectations. With the only negative point (if you call it a negative) was that one would believe McHugh’s solo career would equal a different genre or style of music. This got me thinking that perhaps one of the reasons he decided to go solo was to get away from The Beautiful Girls newfound commercialism. The songs from his new album Seperatista were very similar to TBG’s style – with the main difference being the powerful lyricism in his solo album. I highly doubt anyone there was disappointed by this, as the crowd were definitely 100% Beautiful Girls fans, but understandably an outsider’s point of view would be different.

McHugh was welcomed back on stage with a massive applause, and began a solo version of Numb. The strength and simplicity of his solo voice was nothing short of perfect. The band then joined him to play Freedom, spreading warm smiles across everyone’s faces. Before beginning the final song, Mat welcomed everyone to join him for a drink at the bar after the show, proving how down to earth and straightforward he really is. La Mar was greeted with screams of excitement, and I noticed the magnificence of the song brought a tear to several eyes.