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Event ReviewsYou are in: Liverpool > Entertainment > Music > Event Reviews > The Cribs @ Carling Academy  The Cribs jumping into the crowd The Cribs @ Carling AcademyBy site contributor Graham Hughes After all the haircuts and posturing of most contemporary indie bands, The Cribs are a breath of fresh air – no time for pouting and jaunty angles here, just good old-fashioned rock n’ roll. It’s student disco time! Inexplicable eighties pop ‘classics’ pump out over the PA, eyebrows are raised, and the three Jarman brothers, Ryan on guitar, twin brother Gary on bass and Ross on drums, enter stage left and crack on with what they do best – making a gloriously unholy racket. After all the haircuts and posturing of most contemporary indie bands, The Cribs are a breath of fresh air – no time for pouting and jaunty angles here, just good old-fashioned rock n’ roll. As the crowd surges forwards and the excellent, excellent HEY SCENESTERS thunders out of the gates, the shout-along anthem is lapped up by the moshers, fists aloft, crowdsurfers bubbling up to the surface, drinks, t-shirts and shoes flying through the steam rising from the kinetic swarm. Oh yes, we are in for a treat tonight.
“Hello Liverpool – you alright?” Asks Ryan, the roar of approval seems to signify a big YES! Through OUR BOVINE PUBLIC and YOU’RE GONNA LOSE US, the mosh descends into a noisy, sweaty, shoving mess – something I find favourably reminiscent of a Rage Against The Machine gig. As the loud thrashing sound of GIRLS LIKE MYSTERY fills the hall to the beer-soaked rafters, it’s hard to grasp why The Cribs aren’t as massive as fellow class of ’05-ers, The Kaisers or Bloc Party. MOVING PICTURES sees the band kicking it down a gear, bathed in blue. The kids put their arms around each other in perspiration-soaked camaraderie, getting their breath back in preparation for the next track, I’M ALRIGHT ME, in which Ross pulls out all the stops, beating those skins like a ginger stepchild. The Liverpool massive howls in appreciation – something that does not miss the attention of Ryan – “you lot are the loudest crowd we’ve had so far – I think”. Bumped and bruisedMore carnage ensues for the new single, MEN’S NEEDS, with security struggling to cope with the torrent of surfers and stage invaders and Ryan and Gary dueting like a version of The Libertines you can enjoy without people assuming you are a dippy 14-year-old girl. We’re certainly getting plenty of bang for our bucks tonight, after clocking up a total of fourteen songs, Ryan announces that “we haven’t even STARTED yet!” Neither, it would appear, have the crowd… WE CAN NO LONGER CHEAT YOU sees the audience in Punkaroke heaven, and as MIRROR KISSES and ANOTHER NUMBER run us into encore territory, Ryan dives into the breach, surfing on a crowd ready to kill for the pop-memorabilia that is Jarman’s stripy T. Bumped and bruised, Ryan struggles back into the limelight, his top torn and his hair a mess. Then it’s up to SHOOT THE POETS and WRONG WAY TO BE to finish off the night in style. Goodnight, Liverpool, Thank You. Okay, let’s be a little critical here – their songs are a bit samey, but then that never stopped Oasis, did it? Over all, The Cribs are polished, punky and, most importantly, fun. And isn’t fun the best thing to have? Let’s hope that 2007 is the year that The Cribs hit their stride, and their new Alex Kapranos-produced album “Men’s Needs, Woman’s Needs, Whatever” gives them the kudos they absolutely deserve. SETLISTMTV last updated: 25/06/07 SEE ALSOYou are in: Liverpool > Entertainment > Music > Event Reviews > The Cribs @ Carling Academy |
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