Are the Catherine Wheel Plotting a Reunion?

Some social media hints have listeners excited

BY Calum SlingerlandPublished Nov 22, 2019

English alt-rockers the Catherine Wheel have been dormant since the release of 2000's Wishville, but a series of recent social media activity from the band's David Hawes and Brian Futter has some listeners hoping a reunion could be around the corner.

On November 17, a shot of Futter seated at a bar was shared through the band's Facebook page, with the caption, "Good to be back in the U.S."

Posts to the page had only been made intermittently in the time before, concerning past live footage, vinyl reissues, and covers of the band's music from Billie Eilish and the late Scott Walker.


Today, Hawes shared a selfie, pint in hand, with a caption revealing that he was headed to Los Angeles for a meet-up with Futter that was "20 years in the making."


Following that post, the page shared a meme of Hawes and Futter as The Blues Brothers, complete with a reference from the 1980 musical comedy that implies a reunion could certainly be in the cards.


Hawes also checked in from Los Angeles via his own personal Facebook page, writing, "Great to be back again. Let the shenanigans begin!"

Speaking with Blast Echo in 2016, Hawes recalled that a Catherine Wheel reunion had been proposed by Dickinson "approximately six or seven years ago," though Futter and drummer Neil Sims weren't receptive to the plan.

"It didn't finish as it should have finished," Hawes told the site. "Especially for me, I wasn't there right there at the end. I don't know about recording a new album but I'd like to do another tour."

Following the release of Wishville, frontman Rob Dickinson released solo album Fresh Wine for the Horses in 2005, while Futter and drummer Sims released album Life After Debt as 50ft Monster in 2007.

The Catherine Wheel's earlier catalogue entries — 1992's Ferment, 1993's Chrome, 1995's Happy Days and 1997's Adam and Eve — have all received vinyl reissues in recent years.

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