Gig Review: The Cribs

I'm still astounded that I managed to get tickets to see The Cribs play the absolutely tiny venue - The Oobleck, last week! The band actually commented that this was the smallest venue they'd ever played in Birmingham. It was just so perfect. Everyone lucky enough to get tickets to see them on this small venue tour knows how I feel.

Menace Beach were the only support act. After seeing them support Pulled Apart By Horses here last year, I wasn't that impressed so I was interested to see what they'd be like now after a few months. They were actually much better! They had much more energy and confidence! I'm not sure if it was because of the slightly smaller crowd or the fact that they've now recently released their debut album, but they smashed it. They did so well in fact that it made me want to get my hands on the record, as I was pretty unsure before. They did a good job and who knows, they might actually end up being a bit of a big deal.

Then, the moment everybody was gagging for - The Cribs. Even before Menace Beach stepped on you could feel the crowd steeling themselves for what was to come. The Jarman's entered to screams, cheers and chants of the riff from "Another Number". It felt like a homecoming - the crowd was in it with them from beginning to end and the band didn't let us down. Opening up with "Mirror Kissers", the crowdsurfers were quick off the bat. You could tell that everyone was there to have a good time, band included as they sang through their setlist smiling from ear to ear. Even six albums on in their career, it can be shows like this that are most poignant in memory. They played through old classics like "Our Bovine Public", "Hey Scenesters!" and of course "Men's Needs". The last of these in particular went off! The crowd singing all the lyrics, backing vocals and riffs - it was a surreal moment. As well as classics, it was nice to hear that their new songs like "Burning For No-One" and "Pink Snow" sounded just as musically epic as their older material. Of course the price you pay for playing a small venue gig is the heat levels. Everything was drenched in sweat... even the walls. However, everyone was too merry to care. Killer set and stellar band.

Overall rating - 8.5/10


Here are some pictures from the night...