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Waxing Lyrical
A few accolades from some of our guests:
“The dedication of the people who run the venue is beyond impressive – you can feel the love they put into every aspect at every moment.
Thanks to Rev, Jason, Drey, Lee, Liz, Amanda and everyone at The CAT Club – I give it 10 stars out of 5!’’
Graham Parker: Singer and songwriter extraordinaire.
An Audience with Graham Parker: A Life in Music.
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“I had such a blast at the CAT Club. Playing tunes and having a laugh with some truly lovely people!”
David Morrissey: Actor, director, producer, screenwriter and podcaster. An Audience with David Morrissey: A Life in Music
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“What a brilliant night I had at the famed CAT Club. Great company, a really warm and appreciative audience, lots of musical memories and all set within my new favourite pub. It’s run by fans for fans and that passion for music comes across. So many world-class guests have gone through its door – I am humbled to have been asked to add my own five cents!”
Ian Rankin: Best selling author, philanthropist and vocalist. An Audience with Ian Rankin: A Life in Music
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Stepping into the unknown, The CAT Club felt like home. It’s now one of our favourite venues.”
Arthur Brown (The God of hellfire): The Crazy World of Arthur Brown (album) plus: Arthur Brown Unhinged, live in concert with Dan Smith and guest vocalist with Sons of Cream and The Malcolm Bruce Trio.
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“The CAT Club in Pontefract is unique, a one-off and very special in my touring life. A companionable assembly of around 40 people who are truly interested and who stay right to the end of a two-and-a-half hour session. It is run by friends and attended by friends. I felt like a friend myself. Drop in but book well ahead.”
Peggy Seeger: Singer, songwriter, feminist icon, activist and one of the most important figures in the history of folk music. An Evening with Peggy Seeger.
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“An unexpected jewel in the heart of Pontefract – I had a fantastic time at The CAT Club, such a cool place. I can’t wait to go back again!”
Suzi Ronson: Author of Me & Mr Jones, My life with David Bowie and the Spiders from Mars – Aladdin Sane by David Bowie.
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“A fabulous evening. Listening to a classic album with folk to match! Love and respect to Rev, Ian and The CAT Club.”
Maxine Peake: Award winning actor, producer and writer – The Velvet Underground and Nico.
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“It was a huge pleasure to appear at The CAT Club in front of the nicest possible audience at the most welcoming venue I’ve visited for ages.”
Philip Norman: Legendary author and journalist – John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band
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“Thanks for everything – my world is richer having been to The CAT Club.
Derek Forbes: Bass player extraordinaire, Simple Minds – New Gold Dream
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“I had a fantastic time at The CAT Club in conversation with the amazing Heath Common who was in top form digging deep into the ups and downs of my Soul Survivor autobiography. We took a walk down memory lane as we watched the amaaaazing video/photo slide show that was brilliantly put together by Rev. I stared in amazement as highlights of my career flashed in front of my eyes, prompting me to laugh and watch in awe of the great job that he did.
I’d like to thank all of you good people of Pontefract for the warm welcome you gave me. It was a great night and a good time was had by all.”
PP Arnold: An Evening with P.P. Arnold – The Soul Survivor in Conversation.
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“I had two brilliant nights at The CAT Club talking about my work with Oasis. A great time with good people.”
Owen Morris: producer of Definitely Maybe and What’s the Story, Morning Glory by Oasis.
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“Thank you to everyone who came to a sold out CAT Club last night! Fantastic to listen to Dexys Don’t Stand Me Down with everyone and chat with Chris Madden about the album and my book and take questions from a lovely audience. A very special place – thanks Rev.”
Helen O’Hara: Violinist, arranger, co-producer – Don’t Stand Me Down by Dexys Midnight Runners.
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“Coming to the CAT Club confirmed it – my choice of a club to have copious quantities of cerebral and cultural crack was corroborated! My appearance at the CAT Club confirmed that I am the world’s expert on myself!”
John Helliwell: Saxophonist with Supertramp – Breakfast in America.
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“I had a really good time so I’m glad others did too! Being in The CAT Club to talk about Amy and that album was a real treat.”
Dom Morley: Producer and engineer – Back to Black by Amy Winehouse.
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“Producing the Buena Vista Social Club record and film with Ry Cooder was a terrific experience. Talking about that experience at The CAT Club brought those fond memories back once again. Thank you everyone involved for a great night.”
Nick Gold: Producer and head honcho of World Circuit Records – The Buena Vista Social Club.
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“A good time indeed. It was special to listen to ‘Ziggy Stardust’ after so many years in the company of a such knowledgeable audience.”
Woody Woodmansey: David Bowie’s drummer on Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders from Mars.
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“Great to be in Pontefract at The CAT Club, a special night.”
Andrew Weatherall: Producer and mixer on Primal Scream’s Screamadelica.
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“T’was a great night when Pontefract remembered Stiff. Great crowd and great IPA. Respect to our CAT Club host Rev Reynolds.”
Dave Robinson: Co-founder of the legendary Stiff Records.
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“I always enjoy being a guest at The CAT Club. Interesting, intimate and a unique experience.”
Clinton Heylin: Journalist, author and leading Bob Dylan authority – Slow Train Coming, Live 1966 (“The Royal Albert Concert”), Blood on the Tracks (New York version) by Bob Dylan and various other CAT Club events.
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“I had a brilliant evening at The CAT Club with Clinton Heylin talking about Bob Dylan’s gospel albums. Great fun, illuminating, great audience and very tuneful!”
The Bishop of Leeds, The Rt Revd Nick Baines – Slow Train Coming by Bob Dylan.
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“A lovely evening spent with some true fans – great listeners, great questions and great company.”
Jon Astley: Producer, engineer and master of the remaster – The Who Live at Leeds and Who’s Next (remastered version).
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“I’ve had two wonderful nights at The CAT Club. So happy they invited me back again.”
“Many thanks to The CAT Cub audience for managing to put up with my third visit. And indulging an old man who talks too much.”
John Wood: Producer and engineer – Solid Air by John Martyn and Five Leaves Left & Pink Moon by Nick Drake.
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“The CAT Club is a great place to present. The audience is friendly, funny and right up close, the ambience is every bit as good as Yorkshire ale. I loved it and hope to return.”
Mark Lewisohn: Author and leading Beatles authority – With The Beatles.
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“What a wonderful and unique experience to reminisce and chat about the album ‘New Boots And Panties,’ that I made with Ian Dury and The Blockheads. To share my thoughts with such an attentive audience as The CAT Club was a joy and a privilege. All down to the enthusiasm and passion of Rev who made this event come to life.”
Chaz Jankel: Co-writer & founder member of The Blockheads – New Boots and Panties by Ian Dury.
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“I have very happy memories of visiting the CAT Club. Discussing The Beatles’ classic album Abbey Road in such great company, with such an appreciative audience, is one of the nicest and most rewarding things I’ve ever done.”
Tony Barrell: Journalist, author and Beatles enthusiast – Abbey Road by The Beatles.
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“If I lived in England, I’d go to every CAT Club event.”
Iain Matthews: Fairport Convention, Plainsong and Matthews Southern Comfort – No Other by Gene Clark (and several live in concert appearances).
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“The CAT Club could not have made me feel more welcome and appreciated and the whole evening was just a brilliant experience. Music can bring people together in a way that few other things can and this event is testament to that.”
Richard Balls: Author of A Furious Devotion: The Life of Shane MacGowan – Rum, Sodomy & The Lash by The Pogues.
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“I’ve had a really good time, can I come again?”
Howard Marks: Author and purveyor of fine herbal substances – Cruising with Ruben and the Jets by The Mothers of Invention.
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“Thanks so much for a great night at The CAT Club and if you’re within a 50 mile radius of Pontefract on a Thursday, get your arse down the CAT Club. There’s nothing better that’s legal.”
Andrew Innes: Primal Scream guitarist – Give Out But Don’t Give Up
(The Original Memphis Recordings) by Primal Scream.
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“Thank you to all the good citizens of Pontefract and beyond for making me feel most welcome at the fabulous CAT Club. I was chauffeured, wined, dined and generally well looked after by Rev, Jason and everyone involved. A most wonderful evening of music and expert questions from Bryn Law who put me immediately at ease with his knowledge, empathy and humour. It’s just a shame I don’t live nearby, otherwise I’d be at The CAT Club all the time.”
Damian O’Neill, founding member, guitarist, keyboards and writer with The Undertones – The Undertones.
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“You’ve built something very special with The CAT Club, Rev and it was an honour to contribute to it. I shall wear the t-shirt with pride! The library event was terrific too, so many lovely people at both events. I’d also like to thank Ian, Jason and Drey for all their efforts.”
Paul Sexton, author of Charlie’s Good Tonight – the official biography of Charles Robert Watts.
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“Two nights in Pontefract are better than one! The CAT Club welcomed me like a long lost brother with a warm and discerning Yorkshire embrace. The evening flowed joyously from start to finish with the help of The CAT Club team. What a wonderful celebration of the classic album London 0 Hull 4, it sounded spectacular on your system. Looking forward to coming back already! Thanks Rev, Ian, Jason and Liz.”
John Williams: Producer – London 0 Hull 4 by The Housemartins.
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“Thank you for a brilliant evening. I so enjoyed meeting everyone – the CAT Club is so special. You’ve created something amazing!”
Lucy O’Brien: Author of Lead Sister, The Karen Carpenter Story. A Song For You by The Carpenters and Dusty in Memphis.
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“Wonderful evening – fantastic stuff!”
Paul Hanley: Former Fall drummer, House of All and author: A Different Kind of Tension by The Buzzcocks.
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“The CAT Club is very special. I had a lovely time in front of a great audience.” Phil Manzanera. An Evening with Phil Manzanera.
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“Had an absolutely wonderful night at The CAT Club. Was treated like royalty and loved sharing Joni Mitchell’s Blue with such a lovely crowd of passionate music fans. Special mention to interviewer Al Wilkinson, who knocked it out the park! Thank you.”
Barney Hoskyns: Author, journalist and editorial director, Rock’s Backpages
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“It was an honour to be welcomed by such a warm and friendly gathering. Fantastic venue, great hospitality and lovely atmosphere, the like of which may only be found in this part of Yorkshire. Would be a regular if only I lived nearer.”
Lindsay Reade: Author of ‘A Continual Farewell, My Life in Letters With Tony Wilson’ and much more besides. Power, Corruption and Lies by New Order.
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“You’ve got something really special going on here. It’s unique with its own personal vibe – I’d love to come back!”
John Niven: Best selling author including Music From Pink. The Band (eponymous second album).
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“I had a great night at The CAT Club. Cheers Rev, keep up the good work pilgrim!”
Will Sergeant: Guitarist with Echo & The Bunneymen. Marquee Moon by Television
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“You’ve created something very special at The CAT Club and you draw in a lovely crowd as well. Such a pleasure to be so warmly welcomed. Thank you.”
Michael Gray: Renowned music journalist and author of Song & Dance Man – The Art of Bob Dylan, The Bob Dylan Encyclopaedia and Outtakes On Bob Dylan – Oh Mercy by Bob Dylan.
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“I had a truly wonderful time at The CAT Club. A great audience, who obviously love music and especially vinyl. They were attentive and asked good focused questions. The pub reminded of what pubs used to be, it was so refreshing to be in that environment. The enthusiasm and vibe of the CAT Club members was energising and I loved every minute. I wish I lived local and could come as a punter. I want to thank Rev and Jason and all the crew for looking after me so well. It was a blast.”
Phill Brown: Producer and engineer extraordinaire – Ogdens’ Nut Gone Flake by The Small Faces.
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“The venue, the team and the audience were all wonderful and made my presentation at the CAT Club totally enjoyable. Thank you everyone!”
Ken Scott: Producer and engineer extraordinaire – An Audience with Ken Scott.
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“It was an honour and a real pleasure appearing at The CAT Club, and thanks again both for the invitation and your gracious hospitality – a great experience!”
Bruce Woolley: Co-writer of all the songs, musician and backing vocals on Slave To The Rhythm by Grace Jones.
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“Blown away by the sympathetic roar of the crowd from The CAT Club. Genial and glamorous hosts with knowledge and humour to spare. It was an honourable humbling to be in the company of previous luminaries treading the Persian carpet before me. I probably learned as much about my early work as the cognoscenti of Pontecarlo did. Just the most super fun evening that you can have with your clothes on! If Robin Hood was alive today he would be dragging his merrie men and Maid Marian straight to the pigeon loft via the excellent bar.
Thanks to Amanda, Drey, Jason, Lee, Liz, Elliot, Rev and everyone else who made it happen.”
David M Allen: Producer & engineer on The Head On The Door by The Cure.
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“I had a really enjoyable time at the CAT Club. Everyone was very friendly and the event was meticulously planned. The amount of research and preparation that had been put into my appearance by Amanda, Rev and the CAT Club team was staggering!”
David Gedge: Singer/songwriter and head honcho of The Wedding Present. Featured album: George Best.
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“Hey! Thanks for a great time at The CAT Club and for meeting Rev and the team and all the other beautiful people who were there. Special thanks to Jason Barnard for researching me and asking me cool questions and stopping me as soon as I waffled on too much! The sound was awesome and I’d be happy to do it again sometime with some other records I’ve produced.”
John Leckie: Legendary producer and engineer. Featured album: Sunburst Finish by Be-Bop Deluxe.
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“Thank you for your hospitality at the fabulous CAT Club – I loved it!”
Martin Barre: Jethro Tull guitarist. An Audience with Martin Barre: A Life in Music.
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“A great venue with lovely people. Thank you to everyone involved for making it happen.”
Glen Matlock: Sex Pistols, Rich Kids bass player and much more besides. An Audience with Glen Matlock.
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“Well, that was a terrific evening! Such a friendly audience and special thanks to Jason & Rev – well done.”
Paul Jones: Musician, broadcaster, presenter, harmonicist and actor. An Audience with Paul Jones: A Life in Music.
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“Can I just say: I f***ing love this place man – it’s like being in your living room, you can swear and whatever and nobody’s gonna be offended. Brilliant!”
Tom Doyle: Author, journalist, musician, author of ‘Ringo Starr: A Fab Life.’ An Appreciation of Ringo Starr.
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“Who would’ve guessed that Pontefract was such a hotbed of music appreciation? Not me, but I had a great time visiting the CAT Club and meeting all the lovely people there.”
Mark Webber: Pulp guitarist and author of I’m With Pulp, Are You?
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“Impossible not to have a nice time at the CAT club ! A lovely little pocket of Pontefract positivity.”
Paul Morley: Music journalist, writer, broadcaster, and cultural critic who has covered music, art, and entertainment since the 1970s – Blackstar by David Bowie.
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“The CAT Club is an amazing place – a warm and welcoming engine room of lively, open-minded and open-hearted music fans. I’ve been telling everybody about it, and I’m desperate to come back already!”
Jude Rogers: Journalist, arts critic & broadcaster, Guardian music reviewer – Broken English by Marianne Faithfull.
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“Right from the word go, The CAT Club ‘family’ made me feel at home. From the moment Rev met me at the train station (I had chosen to travel a day early), I felt that this was going to be a really enjoyable experience – and I wasn’t wrong!
Jason Barnard conducted the evening with much aplomb – guiding me through the story of my life in music and giving me as much time as I needed to expand on the clips, photos & audio he had chosen for the event. The rest of The CAT Club team couldn’t have been more supportive – the warmth and good vibes from the knowledgable audience was something else.
I’ve never done anything like this before, but by the end of the night it felt like I’d been doing it all my life!”
Wally Waller, former Pretty Thing and much more besides! – An Appreciation of The Pretty Things.
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“What an absolute delight to spend the evening at The CAT Club.
In this twitchy-doom-scrolling-short-attention-span world, sharing a room with people being truly present while they listened to our album (The First of a Million Kisses) was an honour. Especially when those people really love music and understand how important it is. Lights dimmed, the dropping of the stylus onto the vinyl, the perfect volume, the occasional dust pop, full spectrum hi-fidelity stereo, the sound of silence in-between the tracks, quite exhilarating.
Thank you Rev, Jason and the crew, a real treat.”
Mark Nevin: Songwriter, singer and guitarist with Fairground Attraction and much more besides – The First of a Million Kisses by Fairground Attraction.
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“I was thrilled to be a guest on the tenth and fifteenth year anniversaries of the very special CAT Club. To hear Hendrix’s ‘Axis Bold As Love’ through a great system, which I listened to with fresh ears and to have a lovely chat before and afterwards, made this incredible album and event even more special.
Thanks to Ian Clayton, Rev and The CAT Club team.”
Graham Oliver: (guitarist with Graham Oliver’s Army and formerly of Bitch and Saxon) was our very first guest in 2011 in ‘the shed’ and again when we went public in 2016. The featured albums were ‘Are You Experienced’ and ‘Axis: Bold as Love’ by The Jimi Hendrix Experience.
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“An evening that’ll live long in the memory. I had the absolute pleasure of being at The CAT Club in Pontefract, West Yorkshire for their Classic Album night about Paul Weller’s life in music – The Jam, The Style Council, early solo – taking us up to Wild Wood before hearing the album played in full, on vinyl, out of the big speakers.
It was genuinely one of the best things I’ve ever been involved in. There’s something completely unique about The CAT Club. The whole crew have created something really special – an amazing community built around music, conversation, and just having a bloody good time.
The audience were brilliant. Properly engaged from start to finish. Listening and laughing and nobody scrolling on their phone. Joyous.
A massive thank you to everyone at The CAT Club for inviting me, to Amanda Cook for such a brilliant conversation, to Rev, Jason Barnard, Stacy and the whole team and the audience for making me feel so welcome, Genuinely blown away. What a night.”
Dan Jennings: Author of The Authorised Oral History, Paul Weller: Dancing Through The Fire and the founder the Weller podcast Desperately Seeking Paul. – Wild Wood by Paul Weller.
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“The CAT Club is unique and a truly wonderful experience and It was an honour to return to talk about and listen to Too-Rye-Ay (As It Should Have Sounded) in the company of such a passionate music audience. Thank you Jason Barnard for a brilliant, well researched and interesting interview and to Rev, Liz, Route and The CAT Club team and everyone who came along for making me so welcome.”
Helen O’Hara: Violinist and so much more – Too-Rye-Ay (As It Should Have Sounded) by Dexys Midnight Runners.