The Cribs

The Cribs

Dec 10

GARAGE ROCK SHAKES AT THE WAH WAH HUT

Where: King Tut’s
When: 6 December 2017
Support: Paws; Canshaker Pi

This gig is part of a ‘residency tour’ by The Cribs whereby they play several nights at smaller but important venues – including four nights at King Tut’s, of which this was the last. It is a band of brothers – twins Gary (voc +b s) and Ryan (voc + gui) plus Ross (dr) – who have been going since 2001. Their breakthrough came when Johnny Marr joined with them for three years (starting with the album Men’s Needs, Women’s Needs, Whatever) and they haven’t looked back since.

Tonight, they were very much in garage rock mode and from the first twang of the first song ‘Hey Scenesters!’ they were 100% committed. Their energy and intensity rolled off the stage igniting the audience. The playing of all three is great but Ryan’s singing and guitar playing provides the raw meat of the performance. It was a breathless performance, even during the ‘quieter’ songs, and seemed to end far too quickly – even though they had played through almost 20 songs.

Apparently on this tour they have been changing the set last every night. I first saw them on the Men’s Needs, Women’s Needs, Whatever tour with the imperious Johnny Marr and was delighted that we got 5 tracks from that album tonight. However, the set covered their whole history from a couple of songs from their first demo to a couple from their latest, 24-7 Rockstar Shit. It included a few they haven’t played live for a decade and the first live outing for ‘On A Hotel Wall’.

I last saw them in a venue that had ten times the capacity of King Tut’s and whilst that show was good it lacked the visceral immediacy of this one – they should play smaller venues more often. The Cribs have been doing this for 16 years but they still retain a rawness and freshness and a closeness to their audience that a young band just starting our would be proud of – a great night!

[Also, a shout out to Dutch post-punkers Canshaker Pi – hope to see you again]

 

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