For a bit of context, I hadn’t heard much of The Cribs since their 2007 album ‘Men’s Needs, Woman’s Needs, Whatever’ and the massive ‘Men’s Needs’ single that came from it. Fast forward the best part of two decades, and my next encounter was when Erazer’s very own Jake Curran reviewed their latest record, ‘Selling a Vibe’, in early January and gave it four stars. Jake also recommended that they sounded better live, so, after a few enjoyable listens, I happily trotted down to the Concorde 2 on a blustery Friday night in Brighton to find out.
When the three Jarman brothers plus Russell ‘I’d be surprised if his nickname wasn’t Surly’ Searle kicked off, the first thing that struck me was how I should have done more homework, as the rest of the crowd clearly had. I felt like someone who’d unwisely dressed up as a Jawa to a Star Trek convention as my fellow Brightonians sang, bounced, waved, hugged, and crowd surfed (well, one very happy bloke), their way through the entire set.
Concorde 2 is a great venue, and it has been a glorious constant in my life for years, but rarely have I been there and felt that the entire crowd were so into the band. From the hardcore shoulder squashers at the front to those at the back loving the convenient proximity of the toilet and bar, most had their arms aloft, knew every word and loudly dur-dur-durred every guitar riff back to the Wakefield rockers.
There was also plenty of between-song banter back and forth from twins Gary and Ryan, with enough Brighton-laced anecdotes sprinkled in to stroke our fragile London-by-Sea egos. We heard about a windswept NME photoshoot on Brighton beach and how Ryan had his very own lost weekend sleeping on the beach and taking class A’s during some mid-noughties post-album release downtime.
The set was about a third from ‘Selling a Vibe’, and two-thirds a fair spread of the rest, and the many faithful fans loved every minute. I’d certainly say that for most in the room, the night could easily have been their gig highlight of the year so far, and I absolutely love that. Personally, it wasn’t totally me. I thought that the songs were strong, but after the 15th track, the sound became a bit repetitive, and I was happy to get going a few tunes later to return home and stash my unwisely chosen Jawa costume in the back of the cupboard.
The Cribs are clearly a solid band, not exactly life-changing for me, but for most of the others in the room, it was a genuine night to remember. If you catch them playing, you’re sure to enjoy it and, if you’re the bloke at the front crowd surfing, singing every syllable and grinning like a West Yorkshireman at an all-you-can-eat parkin tearoom, then you will have the night of your life.
