Cats in Space - Newport Review

At one point, it felt like the British retro hard rockers Cats in Space were being covered regularly on this blog. They are likely one of my most-listened-to bands of the past few years - and if I was not reviewing one of their albums then I was seeing them live. For a while, I think that it is fair to say that I was pretty obsessed with the band - but in more recent times I have taken a step back, perhaps suffering from something of a Cats in Space-related burnout. It is possible to have too much of a good thing - and I think I overdid it a bit when it came to Cats in Space. I do not think that I listened to the band at all last year - and I also missed their 2025 tour, which was essentially the second leg of the tour for 2024's Time Machine (which I reviewed here), as there were no suitable shows that I could easily make from the South West, meaning that I really did end up having a bit of an accidental Cats in Space detox. This detox, too, was partly fuelled by my relative disappointment in Time Machine. The band had essentially gotten better and better with each album, but Time Machine felt like a step backwards after the epic Kickstart the Sun (which I reviewed here) from 2022. It was always going to be hard to top Kickstart the Sun, but Time Machine was realistically the first time I had been disappointed with something from the band. I enjoyed seeing them in 2024 just before the album came out, but it did not live up to the best numbers played live - so, after I reviewed it, it pretty much went back on the shelf for good. Cats in Space never wait around for too long, though, and the band have just released their seventh album Suit of Armour. At the time of writing, I have not had a chance to listen to it yet, but it will be reviewed here at some point - and the advance singles have certainly been promising. 2026 has been a relatively quiet year for the band on the road, due to recording the new album, but they decided to celebrate the album's launch with a couple of shows - before taking the album on the road properly next year. Coventry and Newport were chosen for these launch parties, and getting to Newport for a Friday evening made the most sense. Despite my detox, I was ready to see the band live again - and I was intrigued by visiting Newport, a new city for me, as well as catching a new-look Cats in Space. Despite the frontman shift from Paul Manzi to Damien Edwards (via, briefly, Mark Pascall), the band had always been stable line-up-wise until the last couple of years when both bassist Jeff Brown and guitarist Dean Howard left. Suit of Armour is the first album with the band's new line-up, then, with Thunder and Tyketto's Chris Childs (bass guitar/vocals) and Wayward Sons' Sam Wood (guitar/vocals) now fully onboard after some previous guest appearances. I booked the ticket for the show some months back, and had a run-through of the band's albums for the first time for a couple of years in the lead-up - with all those excellent songs flooding back. I even enjoyed Time Machine more than I did previously - so I was very much ready for the show by the time Friday came around. The show endured its share of drama in the lead-up, too, with the original venue the Queen's Hotel closing a few months ago - meaning that the action had to move around the corner to the Corn Exchange. I would not have known this had the band not said so, however, as no information at all from the ticket provider was forthcoming. Following a morning's work, then, it was soon time to get the train up to Newport from Plymouth, via a cold wait at Bristol Parkway. My hotel was just outside the station, and the venue was about a five minute walk. Everything was very convenient, then, and I was soon in the venue waiting for the music to start.

There was no support act, with the band presenting something of an 'Evening with...' format - kicking off with a six-song acoustic set before the later main event. Whilst the turnout was fairly decent, and the crowd was not small, I expected better really given the band's relative lack of live activity this year. Cats in Space always struggle to take that next step size-wise, which is a shame, but the atmosphere in the room was good - and the band were having a great time, with plenty of banter throughout between Wood and bandleader Greg Hart (guitar/vocals). The acoustic set got off to a rocky start, with Wood's guitar not working. He ended up having to use a microphone, old-fashioned style, which led to some early jokes - before the music got underway with Poke the Witch. Of the six songs played, four were songs I had not seen the band do live before. Two came from the new album, which were presented just by Edwards and Andy Stewart (keyboards/vocals), whilst two were relative deep-cuts. Poke the Witch has been setlist regular, though, but it worked well acoustically - as did the snappy Two Fifty Nine which has always been a bit of a favourite. The band were on strong form acoustically, even though Edwards was clearly suffering with some sort of illness. Even ill, though, he sounded excellent - despite perhaps not operating at full-tilt at times. No-one minded, though, and the acoustic set went down really well - even with two brand new songs included that most likely had not heard. Of the two played, Twenty-Seven was likely my favourite - but I imagine the song sounds quite different on the actual album. It was also interesting to see everyone providing backing vocals now, including drummer Steevi Bacon - who contributed various percussion and even a little harmonica during the acoustic set. I did think that they missed Brown in the vocal department, as he essentially could have fronted the band he was that good a singer, but otherwise the line-up changes appear to have been smooth. The 30 minute acoustic set came to an end with another deep cut favourite in the form of Magic Lovin' Feelin' - with the band then taking half an hour or so to rest up before the main event. The setlist was:

Poke the Witch

Two Fifty Nine

From Time to Time

Twenty-Seven

Scars

Magic Lovin' Feelin'

The stage was soon cleared of all the stools and extra microphones the acoustic set required - and the Les Pauls were tuned up ready for something much louder. Most of the times I have seen the band live they have opened with the anthemic Too Many Gods, and Friday night was no different. The track always sets the tone nicely for what is to come, and the new-look band really powered through the venue's PA from the off. The setlist was a strong one, too, with five songs from the new album - and there were some older songs included that I had either not seen the band do live before or for a while. The hard-hitting, political Revolution was one such number - but perhaps the first highlight was the first new cut of the set: Never Big in Japan. Like many of the band's songs, it appeared to be something of a tongue-in-cheek look at the music industry - with plenty of big hooks and fiery soloing. I was impressed with Wood throughout. I have seen him live before with a number of different bands, but he especially impressed on Friday with his tough, blues-based soloing. Hopefully he sticks around for a while, although he is very much in-demand, having filled in for guitarists in both Saxon and Uriah Heep - so it would not surprise me to see him end up in a bigger band permanently one day. It was also nice to hear My Father's Eyes live, as it was not played at the 2024 show I attended - but the main event was arguably a four-song suite of songs from the new album. Of the four, the two which really stood out were the single White Knight, with its harmony guitar solo, delicate piano, and classic Cats in Space build from a slow start, and the fast-paced, bombastic We Breathe in Stereo - a hooky anthem that could have easily sat on one of the band's early albums. The other two new songs in the suite were strong, too, but the ones mentioned are the ones which stood out the most. Even though most in crowd had not likely heard all of these songs, they received strong receptions - with the fans having a great time throughout the whole evening. The rest of the set was largely made up of classics, with the epic power ballad Kickstart the Sun including a pretty spontaneous crowd sing-a-long, which likely pleased Edwards given that it allowed him a brief rest. Jupiter Calling was a bit of a surprise, given that I had not seen the band do it live for a number of years, but the rocker went down well - before Greatest Story Never Told and Thunder in the Night proved to be a powerful one-two punch of setlist staples. I did wonder how the former would fare without Brown, but Edwards sang the whole song - and it still sounded powerful, although I would not be upset if the band decided to give it a bit of a break at this point. It does somewhat seem to be the band's signature anthem, but it has never been one of my personal favourites. There are songs I would rather have included, but I imagine that I am in something of a minority - and I very much imagine the song will feature at every Cats in Space show. It has moved from its customary ending slot, though, which was this time occupied by the barnstorming Occam's Razor (Not the End of the World) - one of the best songs from the last album. The up-tempo song worked really well as a closing statement - which allowed for some more rocking out and soloing before the band took a quite break off-stage. The cheers brought them back for a couple more, though, and the band's now seemingly customary encore duo of Hologram Man and I Fell Out of Love with Rock 'n' Roll made for a great end to a great night - with plenty more soloing again from Hart and Wood in the song's big finale. The setlist was:

Cathedral

Too Many Gods

Revolution

Never Big in Japan

My Father's Eyes

Miracle

Suit of Armour

White Knight

We Breathe in Stereo

Kickstart the Sun

Jupiter Calling

Greatest Story Never Told

Thunder in the Night

Occam's Razor (Not the End of the World)

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Hologram Man

I Fell Out of Love with Rock 'n' Roll

Given that it had been over two years since I last saw Cats in Space live, which is a long gap compared to most, it was great to finally see them again on Friday - reinvigorated from my little hiatus from listening to their albums. The show reminded me, even with the new line-up, why I fell in love in the first place - and I am looking forward to digesting the new album over the coming weeks. The band are going on tour next year and, based on Friday, I think that I will need to see whether or not I can make any of the shows.