THE CRIBS // O2 ACADEMY, GLASGOW

THE CRIBS PLAY GLASGOW'S O2 ACADEMY AS PART OF 10TH ANNIVERSARY

THE CRIBS PERFORMING AT GLASGOW'S O2 ACADEMY - 11/05/2017
PICTURE BY: STUART WESTWOOD PHOTOGRAPHY

There's something highly intriguing about an album anniversary show. Reproducing a recorded work live after 'x' amount of years allows the audience to judge how well it holds up out of its original context and showcase how much the development the band has gone through since this time. Tonight, a packed out O2 Academy is here to celebrate 10 years since the release of the Cribs' seminal 'Men's Needs, Women's Needs': the album that placed them right at the forefront of the indie guitar band 'baby-boom' of the mid to late 00's, brought on by the phenomenal success of acts such as The Libertines and Arctic Monkeys.

Norwegian support act Slotface came on early to a very healthy sized crowd. Their performance at first seemed anxious and strained. As this was the first night of the tour, playing to this caliber of venue of the UK seemed to through them slightly. Their tried and tested US pop-punk sound seemed to draw parallels with acts such as Paramore and We Are the In Crowd rather than The Cribs. However they soon overcame and gave an extremely strong and convincing performance by the end of their set, showing they have great promise for the future.

Arriving not a minute a late to deliver as promised, the brothers Jarman took to the stage with 'Men's Needs...' opener 'Our Bovine Public'. The decision to open their set with the full album brought on some interesting changes to the structure of their set. Early renditions of 'Men's Needs' and 'I'm a Realist', did a stellar job of hyping the crowd early on but allowed the set to lose momentum towards the end.  Being a band with two frontmen had its advantages. What guitarist/singer Ryan lacked in vocal ability compared to his twin brother Gary, he definitely made up for in character, energetically storming about the stage, jesting the crowd and making the stage-hands work for their money by continuously hurling his mic stand towards the guitar cabs.

Album deep cuts worked well in providing variety to the set. The projection of Sonic Youth guitarist Lee Ranaldo on the backdrop during 'Be Safe' was a nice touch and added nicely to the stage production. Closing ballad 'Shoot The Poets' brought on a nice change of tone and sentimentality amongst the aggression of their set, I would have loved there to have been more moments like this.

The remainder of the set surprisingly showcased some further rarities from the band with tracks from the 'I'm A Realist' EP showing that this truly was a night for the dedicated Cribs fan. Classics such as 'Come On, Be A No-One' and 'Mirror Kissers' also helped to bring the show to an effective climax. Despite this being their first show in 7 months, the trio showed little rust. The performance was still a little rough around the edges, the vocals occasionally straying out of key and a snare hit missed here and there. This is all fits into their DIY-punk aesthetic though so no-one here can be accused of false advertising.

Progressive set closer 'Pink Snow' from their latest LP ' For All My Sisters' brought things up to date nicely and helped to show that although they haven't strayed far from the formula, they still have managed to progress and have continued to deliver exciting music since the release of their magnum opus 10 years ago.

THE CRIBS TOUR CONTINUES:

12 MAY - O2 APOLLO - MANCHESTER, UK
13 MAY - O2 INSTITUTE - BIRMINGHAM UK
15 MAY - O2 ACADEMY - NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE, UK
16 MAY - O2 ACADEMY - BRISTOL, UK
18 MAY - O2 FORUM KENTISH TOWN - LONDON, UK
20 MAY - FIRST DIRECT ARENA - LEEDS, UK
25 MAY -  28 MAY - SOUND CITY FESTIVAL 2017 - LIVERPOOL, UK
25 - 27 AUGUST - THE BIG FESTIVAL 2017 - OXFORD SHIRE, UK
7 - 10 SEPTEMBER - FESTIVAL NUMBER 6 2017 - PORTMEIRION, UK
15 - 17 SEPTEMBER - RIOT FESTIVAL 2017 - CHICAGO, USA

REVIEW BY: STRAUN NELSON
PHOTOS BY: STUART WESTWOOD PHOTOGRAPHY

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