| Cats in Space | |
| Landscape: | yes |
| Origin: | Horsham, West Sussex |
| Genre: | Rock, Power pop, Glam rock, Pop rock |
| Years Active: | 2015–present |
| Associated Acts: | Ian Gillan, Asia, Robin Trower, Air Race, T'Pau, Bad Company, Little Angels, The Sweet, Statetrooper, Arena, Oliver Wakeman, Michael Moran (music producer), David Richards (record producer), Ian Caple, Mick Wilson, Andy Scott, 10cc, Thunder (band) |
| Past Members: | Paul Manzi Mark Pascall |
| Current Members: | Damien Edwards Greg Hart Steevi Bacon Dean Howard Jeff Brown Andy Stewart Mick Wilson |
Cats in Space (styled CATS in SPACE - The Band)[1] [2] is a British rock band formed in Horsham, West Sussex, in 2015 by guitarist Greg Hart and drummer Steevi Bacon. Following the band's inception, vocalist Paul Manzi, keyboardist Andy Stewart, bassist Jeff Brown, and second guitarist Dean Howard were recruited to complete the official lineup. In mid-2019, vocalist Paul Manzi announced he would leave the band to join The Sweet after the first half of ‘The Narnia Tour’. Soon after Manzi’s departure from the band, Mark Pascall joined the band as their new lead vocalist. After the tour, the band parted ways with Pascall. He was then replaced by Jeff Wayne's War of the Worlds stage show vocalist, Damien Edwards.[3]
Cats in Space began to work on their debut album Too Many Gods.[4] The recording sessions had guest vocal appearances by both key songwriter Greg Hart's fellow co-writer Mick Wilson of 10cc, as well as a guitar/vocal session by Andy Scott of The Sweet.
The band released their first single from the album on 24 August 2015 via YouTube, named "Mr. Heartache".
Cats in Space announced their second album, the follow-up to critically acclaimed debut album Too Many Gods,[5] titled Scarecrow, with an official release date of 25 August 2017.
Track two, "The Mad Hatter's Tea Party" (which the band had previously showcased on the 2017 Thunder support tour) was released on 21 July 2017, as a music promo on YouTube. Both albums were then announced as digitally available in their entirety on all the reputable digital media platform outlets.
Cats in Space made their debut appearance at London's The Half Moon,[6] Putney SW15, on Wednesday 6 January 2016. They made subsequent appearances leading them to accept their fourth show at the Stone Free Festival on Sunday 19 June 2016.[7] [8]
Their fifth performance was at The Ramblin' Man Fair,[9] on the new Rising Stage[10] at Mote Park, Maidstone, Kent, on 24 July 2016. The line up featured many classic rock bands including Whitesnake, Europe, Thin Lizzy, Thunder, Airbourne, and Black Stone Cherry.[11]
Thunder UK Tour March 2017
In December 2016, UK rock band Thunder announced that a studio album entitled Rip It Up would be released on 10 February 2017. This would also coincide with a number of live dates. Cats in Space was confirmed on 23 January 2017 as the official UK tour support.[12] [13]
British Summer Time (BST) Hyde Park, London, UK
On Monday 27 March 2017, Cats in Space were added to the Phil Collins BST Hyde Park concert line-up. The concert took place on Friday 30 June 2017.[14] [15]
Fairport Cropredy Convention 2017
On 12 August 2017, the band played an hour-long set to an over 20,000 capacity at the Fairport's Cropredy Convention[16] in Oxfordshire.
Deep Purple Long Goodbye UK Tour 2017
An announcement was made onstage on the final night of the Scarecrow headline tour that Cats in Space had been added to the whole UK leg of the Deep Purple 2017 arena tour[17] along with Europe.
Status Quo - Plugged in Live and Rockin' Winter UK Tour 2017
Cats in Space were announced as special guests on the Status Quo Plugged In Live and Rockin' [18] nine date UK winter tour of November/December 2017.
Bonnie Tyler - The London Palladium, UK 2019
Cats in Space were special guests to Bonnie Tyler on Wednesday 18 September 2019[19] [20] at The London Palladium, Argyll Street, London, UK.
Blue Öyster Cult - UK Tour 2022
Cats in Space were special guests to Blue Öyster Cult[21] [22] on Tuesday 18 October 2022 at the De Montfort Hall, Leicester, UK, and Wednesday 19 October 2022 at City Hall, Newcastle, UK.