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Tuesday, March 19, 2024
The Observer

A Legend-ary weekend

LegendaryweekendWEB
Erin Rice


The lingering February cold may make leaving your room a little difficult, but Legends Nightclub has back-to-back nights of great programs to make the winter weather worth enduring.

Notre Dame’s own radio station WVFI has partnered with Legends to bring indie rock group Catfish and the Bottlemen to Legends tonight. The Welsh group has only released one album, but they’ve certainly built up an audience with performances on “The Late Show” and in festivals like The Governer’s Ball. The group is also scheduled to perform at Bonnaroo Music Festival this summer.

Catfish and the Bottlemen’s debut LP, “The Balcony,” was released in September of 2014 and garnered significant attention in the U.K. Their sound is reminiscent of English bands like the Kooks, with a garage rock twist. While the four-piece outfit may sound familiar at first, they make a mark with their unexpectedly gravelly sound and lyrics, and the result is an upbeat sound that is, upon closer listen, surprisingly dark.

The band has released several singles; “Kathleen,” their biggest hit, shows off frontman Van McCann’s half-screamed vocals and the impressive work of drummer Bob Hall. But while “Kathleen” shows off more of the group’s power-pop side, other tracks on “The Balcony” ring much closer to their garage rock roots. Songs like “The Fallout” and “Rango” edge closer to the gritty side of rock and an have impressively large amount of sound for a four-member band.

With a variety of sounds coming from their 11-song debut LP and plenty of live-performance experience, Catfish and the Bottlemen are sure to put on an entertaining show tonight. The concert starts at 10 p.m., and admission is free for students.

Legends will follow up tonight’s show with an appearance by comedian Christian Finnegan tomorrow night.

Finnegan has appeared on “Chappelle’s Show” and several VH1 specials and series, including “Best Week Ever.” He also has his own podcast, “Audio Spackle,” on which he tries “to soundtrack your every waking moment,” according to its website.

Finnegan’s standup show “Au Contraire!” airs on Comedy Central, he has also had spots on several of the network’s other programs. Finnegan’s latest standup special, “The Fun Part,” was released in 2014 and is available to stream on Netflix.

“The Fun Part” is an impressive hour-long special, with Finnegan breaking down American geography, reliving embarrassing memories and reminiscing on college regrets. (He’ll also make you feel a lot better about going to school somewhere cold.)

Christian Finnegan’s free show starts at 10 p.m. Stick around after Finnegan to catch Hip-Hop Night, of course. But even if you pass on the hip-hop antics, both Catfish and the Bottlemen and Christian Finnegan are two great ways to warm up and chill out this weekend.