I saw the Cribs + Manchester Academy 2. Here is my review of said gig.
The Cribs? On this here website? [DirtyZine. Not exactly an indie pretty boy site] What? I guess when you e-mail me and ask me to review a gig for free, I'll see you at the front, be it Kula Shaker, Kid Rock, or anyone between them on the scale of musical discarded chewing gum. I also don't dislike The Cribs anywhere near as much as I should. On a shallow level, they're northerners, they don't have trendy haircuts and they encourage those watching to "take drugs!". On a musical level, they have a few songs that are good to dance to when drunk. So here I am, stood in my Student Union on a friday night, hung over and surrounded by possibly the most diverse mix of people I have ever seen, probably with seven or eight things I'd rather be doing, but none of which are free.
Two cheap Stellas later, I enter the gig fashionably late to be greeted by a screeching pixie stood on stage. Bemused, I check my stage times. Giant Drag apparently. Hmm. I think I'll pass, because hearing what sounds halfway between a hairdryer and a puppy in pain drone over some repetitive, uninspired and uninteresting guitar work isn't my thing. Take this judgement with a pinch of salt, because I only caught the last two songs, but I'm not exactly falling over myself to hear more.
Cribs then. I'm not expecting to be blown away by a devastating display of shifting time signatures, polyrhythmic drumming and twelve part harmonies, but I expect to be entertained, and by opening with three of their strongest numbers, "Mirror Kissers", "Direction" and "I'm Alright Me", threaten to do just that. But then, about five songs in, it falls strangely flat for a large period before the set climax, punctuated only by one or two genuine pop gems, namely set highlight "You Were Always The One" and the obvious "Hey Scenesters". I blame the b-sides that they played. It's admirable that they are prepared to move away from the albums and risk alienating all but their biggest fans (because to be honest, none of the b-sides are any good) but this is a singles band first and foremost. You wouldn't want Ash to play any b-sides. You'd want them to play ten kickass singles and then go home again.
Unfortunately for The Cribs, they don't yet have ten kickass singles, although there is definitely half of a decent set on offer here. They were definitely better than I was expecting, although I won't be buying any tight t-shirts just yet. These boys look like they will be around for a while yet and, if they keep notching up hummable singles, perhaps a festival fixture in summers distant.
Now, where's my Red Sparowes CD?
PnL
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