I just saw The Cribs two months ago, and here I am again. They’re just one of the most authentic rock outfits from across the sea that offer up a raucous act. Their new album, In the Belly of the Brazen Bull, dropped last month to a lot of positive buzz, and this tour is specifically in support of it. An interesting addition tonight was a fourth man joining the trio for live performances following the departure of Johnny Marr last year.
Belly is good stuff, but The Cribs did well incorporating only about six songs from the album into their live show, which already consists of a pretty damn good rotation at this point. “Chi-Town” and “Come on Be a No One” both got a good reaction, but the rest of their new stuff is still not too well known. My personal favorite inclusion was their early single, “Mirror Kissers,” one we didn’t get in April.
Did I say dance? I meant mosh. It took a little cajoling but eventually a solid mosh pit got kicked off for their set, to band approval. It’s totally the best way to enjoy active, live music.
“Mens Needs“Â is a great song but the signature guitar line keeps coming out so muted live. Both times I’ve heard it I haven’t realized until people started throwing me around and I was able to pick up the bass line. There was still no encore either, I suppose that’s just how The Cribs are gonna roll.
Our support this night is also worthy of mention. Devin, named after their possibly deranged frontman, Devin, served us up some really tasty blues rock with a side of sarcasm. Singer-songwriter Alex Winston brought an armada on stage with her to play sweet, sweet indie pop. Both have individual LPs that I will be following up on.
