The Cribs

Friday 19 February 2010
Venue: Manning bar
Support band: Bridezilla

My friend and I arrived at the Manning bar slightly after the support band had started and asked the ticket guy who was on, to our luck the support band was Bridezilla! So we ran straight up the stairs to watch them. Bridezilla are a Sydney band with 5 members; 4 girls and a token boy on the drums. I was surprised they were the support band for the Cribs because they play more folk inspired rock and roll. I have seen them previously supporting Architecture in Helsinki, and at big day out and Laneway festivals. They always put on a good show with the violinist being particularly theatrical. Their debut studio album has recently come out (October 2009) and has been graced with good reviews.



It felt like only a short intermission before The Cribs took the stage. The Cribs are an English 4-piece rock band which had previously consisted of twins Gary and Ryan and their brother Ross Jarman but have recently been joined by prestigious ex-The Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr. Q magazine has described the band as "The biggest cult band in the UK". I have been following the Cribs from 2005 when their 2nd album ‘The New Fellas’ was released. They played a solid show. I was worried they would just play a majority of their latest album ‘Ignore the Ignorant’ but they presented a good mix of old and new keeping all punters satisfied.



There was a definite sense of star struck being only a few metres away from Johnny Marr (currently 46 years old; looked more like 25) I had only just the night before been watching a documentary on British music to which Johnny Marr was interviewed. Lee Ranaldo from Sonic Youth collaborated with the band on their third album. The track "Be Safe" is a Ranaldo spoken word piece, and backed with The Cribs' music; so when they played the song imagery of Ranaldo was projected onto a screen at the back of the stage.




Overall it was a good night. There was even a little bit of crowd surfing from some of the audience members which is a rarity these days. I shouldn’t have expected anything more than they provided. Although I will say that because The Cribs have been known for their raucous and unpredictable live shows I did expect more. I understand that it would be hard for a band night after night to come out and play the same material but they have spiced things up a bit with a new album and a new member. Don’t get me wrong there was enthusiasm there definitely and from other bands the level would have been fine but and I mean this remark as a compliment; I think the Cribs are of a different and more genuine caliber than most bands so I would have enjoyed a little bit of banter with the crowd instead of just playing the songs. I respected that they did not have an encore. As soon as their set ended the lights came on. None of this modern day planned encore rubbish too which most have become accustomed.