COOL FOR SWING CATS

As they bring their latest show to The Whale, we catch up with The Kings Of Swing…

It’s hard to imagine that any pack is ever going to be quite as cool as Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr.  were together in the 1950s and ’60s.

Heck, not even the other two Rat Pack members, Peter Lawford and Joey Bishop, were as cool as Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr.

That’s not to say, you can’t have a huge amount of fun trying to recreate that golden era of swing, when the girls were sophisticated ladies and the lads were debonair, witty and philandering gentlemen.

It was back in 2013 that The Swing Cats first unleashed their homage to that much-loved era, perfecting that thing that made the likes of Come Fly With Me, Everybody Loves Somebody and I’ve Gotta Be Me really swing. It was December, in front of a sold-out Button Factory, the band having honed their craft over the previous three years, and life for The Swing Cats would never be the same from that night on.

“We knew pretty much immediately that we had something special going on,” says lead singer Luke Thomas. “We were having a ball, performing these classic songs, but to see the audience reaction, that just took it all to a whole new level…

“And we’ve been flying high at that level ever since.”

Inbetween more sell-out shows at even bigger venues – such as The National Concert Hall, Vicar St and The Olympia – plus appearances on everything from The Late Late Show to The Today Show and every radio station in the country, this kicking 7-piece even managed to release three studio albums of original material along the way too.

The rather fine Dance With Me hit the no.1 spot in October, 2017, instantly becoming the biggest-selling album for an indie release that month. Nice.

“Recording your own songs is always a big goal for any musician,” finishes Luke, “but we also have the joy of this alternative universe when we go out on stage and suddenly, it’s the Sands, Las Vegas, somewhere in the late 1950s.

“You really can’t get much cooler than that…”

You can catch The Kings Of Swing at The Whale on on Friday, March 21st & Saturday 22nd – tickets here: https://whaletheatre.ticketsolve.com/ticketbooth/shows/873649663