For The Cribs who are well aware of the fact that “a year’s a long time to be doing nothing with your life”, the past three have seen a massive amount of changes since their last tour and fourth album Ignore The Ignorant. From band line-up, producers, relationships, health, location and even approach to playing, it was difficult to predict what to expect from the rightly-restored trio but 2012 saw them return both literally and figuratively with a lot of fire ‘In The Belly Of The Brazen Bull’.
Storming on stage to rapturous applause, a worryingly thin looking Ryan, a wrist-brace-sporting Gary and Ross take their places before shouting “thanks to you we’ve gone mainstream! but we don’t care about that…or do we…who knows?” Regardless, it doesn’t seem as though they’re about to betray their roots or lose their cult following any time soon; almost every attendee ignored the apparent obnoxious rule set by the hipster dictators that you can’t wear a band’s own t-shirt to their gig.
It seems fitting that they open the set with first official single ‘Come On, Be A No-one’ setting the bar of relentless energy levels high from the very start. It wasn’t until their eighth song ‘To Jackson’ followed by ‘Back To The Bolthole’ that allowed the crowd (who were already practically swimming in their own sweat) to regain their strength and remember how to breathe again before Ryan began to tease them with ‘I’m A Realist’’s unmistakable riff (which of course set the room leaping towards the ceiling again).
Two of the most notable parts of the gig, however, were the inclusion of the highly unexpected acoustic ‘It Was Only Love’, and after requesting that they forget their Birmingham gig and stay in Leamington for another night to witness the assembly rooms being graced with the presence of the one and only Brian May, their very own version of Queen’s ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’. Interestingly enough the next night at their Birmingham gig Ryan announced that it was the best day of his life as Brian May himself had followed him on twitter, leading to an impromptu rendition of ‘Under Pressure’ following a technical fault with Ryan’s guitar.
Finishing with their finale staple ‘City Of Bugs’ which in the context of ‘Ignore The Ignorant’ has always seemed like an unusual yet very clever choice, draining the last of the energy reserves of the crowd, leaving with what can only be expected from a Cribs’ gig; an anarchic and euphoric rush and a restored faith in the music industry…and humanity.
With an almost pretty perfect set list that saw them dust off ‘Don’t You Wanna Be Relevant?’ and ‘You Were Always The One’, which, ten years later, still hasn’t lost it’s shine. It’s just further conclusive evidence that the midas touch that the Jarmans seem to have isn’t something that you can just pick up off a corporate conveyor belt or even attempt to replicate.
But to be honest, something tells me that no matter how many times you see The Cribs, being crushed to oblivion in a room with a limited oxygen supply shouting “I KNOW A PLACE WE CAN GO WHERE YOU’LL FALL IN LOVE SO HARD THAT YOU’LL WISH YOU WERE DEAD” in unison with hundreds of other people while staring straight at a giant projection of Lee Ronaldo’s face will never lose it’s magic.
It’s ironic that considering the worrying initial sight of the band’s physical condition that they’re certainly, dare I say it, at their strongest. I’d like to see an uninvited Ed Sheeran dive onto the Kaiser Chiefs’ table for no good reason whatsoever at the next NME awards ceremony and carry on strumming his £9.99 acoustic guitar. Until next time…
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By Bella Roach
Dance Yrself Clean
