The Cribs + Adam Green + Shrag @ The Assembly, Leamington Spa – 8th October 2009
Johnny Marr is in The Cribs! – a bit of an obvious statement maybe, but true nonetheless. Let me explain: I had the misfortune to see Modest Mouse at the height of Johnny’s much publicised involvement with that band. In spite of all the protestations to the contrary he was not a real member of the band. He was the celebrity, the legendary crowd-pulling guest guitarist helping out the boys from the west coast; he knew it, they knew it and more importantly the crowd knew it.
From Ryan Jarman’s opening comment “We’re The Cribs from Wakefield” to the final note it was clear that this is a different situation. You just cant see the join. As a result the loud, relentless and sometimes chaotic set offered up by the band was all about The Cribs with no other agenda in view.
The Cribs have been accused of being a bit hit and miss and a bit flat a times. If that is the case the luck must have been with us tonight because not even a bad dose of the flu could keep the Jarman brothers down and even though the set list is a bit patchy the crowd responded in kind. The opening “We were Aborted”, “Hey Scenesters!” and “I’m A Realist” producing some hysteria down the front which was soon heightened by Jarman’s theatrical “This is a public service announcement; it is now officially OK to crowd-surf”. The security spent the rest of the night pulling bodies off the barrier.
Although they’ve been around for a long time the band seemed genuinely surprised at the atmosphere and their obvious popularity; “We’re not a radio band… it’s great to come to a place like this and have such a great gig”. Maybe the venue has something to do with this. The combination of décor and space is at odds with the purpose so maybe the bands don’t expect the place to kick off as it can do. Or maybe it’s just the location — so-called sedate Leamington.
Adam Green obviously thought so taking time out to have dig at the town, how it was a dream of his to play there and thanking The Cribs for the opportunity. Maybe he was sincere; he seemed to like the Leamington people well enough spending more time in the crowd than on the stage. All Julian Casablancas with Iggy Pop moves, his quirky off centre tunes and incessant crowd surfing got everyone in the mood but he still leaves you wondering where he will go from here. Songs like “Jessica” and “Dance With Me” are really good but maybe he is just a bit too American-style “wacky” to make a serious impact. Although apparently he is big in Germany.
Shrag ought to be good, even excellent, but tonight they sounded as if they had just met up in the car park prior to the gig. Shouty indie pop is what they are all about but the singer claiming that she was not very good with words was an unfortunate slip but one that proved accurate. They’ve supported The Cribs previously and are regarded as up-and-coming by the 6 music crowd so maybe this was just an off night. At least their bass player seemed to be enjoying himself.
In contrast anything that seems shambolic about The Cribs is all by design. Lots of the songs go off on a tangent only to return to the main hook often including a good chant-along section for the crowd to get stuck into. Their song titles belie the relentless driving nature of the tunes “Girls like mystery” Save your Secrets” and “We share the same Skies” are delivered with the same ferocity as “Our Bovine Public” or “Hari Kari” and maybe more variety would be a good thing.
Lee Ranaldo’s big face appeared on the screen for “Be Safe” emphasising this. For me this was the outstanding tune and one of their best. It was something different and was an apt illustration of Johnny Marr’s live contribution to the band . His contribution to the song writing for the newer material was less obvious. Maybe its proof of his true membership of the band in that again you cant see the join.
“Mirror Kissers” and “Men’s Needs” led up City of Bugs with a statement reminiscent of another Yorkshire band The Wedding Present. “If anyone hasn’t seen us before – we never do encores”.
Maybe there is another parallel with David Gedge’s outfit here. Appearances on Jools Holland and decent sales aside The Cribs are still a cult band but with a fiercely loyal following. The reality is that they are well suited to this sort of venue Johnny Marr or no Johnny Marr. Its hard not to get the feeling that seven years and four albums in this may be as big as they get.
Let’s hope with the next stage of the tour and the bigger venues prove this to be wrong.
Set list
We were Aborted
Hey Scenesters!
I’m A Realist
Emasculate Me
Girls Like Mystery
Cheat On Me
We Share The Same Skies
We Can No Longer Cheat You
Direction
Victim Of Mass Production
Hari Kari
Save Your Secrets
Our Bovine Public
Another Number
Ignore The Ignorant
Be Safe
Mirror Kissers
Men’s Needs
City Of Bugs
Review – Ian Gelling
Photos – Steph Colledge
Spot on there mate, Johnny Marr is now as much a part of The Cribs as the Jarmans, and with so many good songs they just can’t go wrong. It doesnt really matter if they get massive or not, they’ll always be a special band.