Artist:

The Courteeners & The Lathums

Venue:

Rochester Castle

Town:

Rochester

Date:

5.7.25

Going to gigs for reviews or photography has had the benefit of taking me to physical places that you might not contemplate visiting for any other reason. Hence I took myself off for an hour or so's drive into Kent to the Historic Town of Rochester for last nights musical offering. Having read the rules and regs of the concert brief it mentioned little public parking... ahh that modern quandary, they would like you to teleport into the venue without leaving any sort of footprint, this can be a challenge. Anyway this led to a plan of driving to a place with a Train Station that goes to Strood just a short walk from the venue, I am only mentioning all this as the place I selected was Snodland, now no disrespect to anyone living there but how does a town end up with a name that sounds like a "Banksy" theme park?

With a scenic backdrop to die for the venue was fantastic, the sun shone till the evening sunset which coloured the castle and landscape in evening shades. The locals of all ages were in party mood, the local pubs had been busy and the "yoofs" were enjoying plenty of cider refreshment, so all bode well for a lively evening and atmosphere which is how it panned out.

The Lathums

The Lathums

The Lathums

Before the Live Music began a DJ was spinning some discs or whatever modern DJ's do? He certainly knew what would raise the beer cans aloft. So plenty of Britpop and Indie rock from the last 30 years or so, with maybe as you would expect Oasis getting the most volumous sing along. By the time the first Live band were ready it was all lights on green for them.

The Lathums

The Lathums

The Lathums

Wigan band The Lathums sauntered on stage with a relaxed demeanour as this must of been one of those "can't go wrong" type of gigs, basically you could have covered Brotherhood of Man and the crowd would have lapped it up. The crowd in question did know the bands songs and were relishing the jingle jangle / indie pop / folky stories. I couldn't think of a better time and place to be seeing these guys. "The Great Escape" being an obvious highlight. With the charismatic singer Alex Moore they have already cemented themselves in a long line of British bands that endear themselves to each new generation.

The Courteeners

The Courteeners

The Courteeners

A 45 minute break for sustenance and the baying crowd were set for The Courteeners. They had an hour and a half to play numbers from all seven albums and didn't waste time, song after classic song with instant recognition from knowing faces absolutely tuned into this performance. I don't see it often but a young teenager had become quite emotional in the front row, slightly overwhelmed.... only music and devotion can do this to people, oh and maybe a dash of alcohol ...nudge nudge.

The Courteeners

The Courteeners

The Courteeners

With a back catalogue stretching back about 17 years The Courteeners provided a smattering from all of their albums with big winners being from the debut St Jude really hitting the spot on the night, "No You Didn't, No You Don't" and "Not Nineteen Forever" taking off into the stratosphere. Along with 4 songs from last year's Pink Cactus Cafe they also shoehorned a cover of "It Must Be Love" the Labbi Siffre classic made famous by Madness into the setlist again lapped up by the crowd.

The Courteeners

The Courteeners

The Courteeners

The Courteeners

The Courteeners

Saturday night was a part of three themed evenings of Live Music over the weekend. Something for all tastes I am sure, as I hadn't been here before I have added it to the keep an eye out for future events list. It is always a joy to be surprised by a place or venue that you didn't know.

https://rochestercastlelive.com/whats-on/

Review by Dan Reddick

Photographs by Dan Reddick