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The Jarmans grow up in public, with a little help from their friend
OK, let's recognise the elephant in the theatre from the off. Yep, that's Johnny blinking Marr stage left with the Fender dangling round his mid-riff. Yep, we're in Manchester. Yep, there are some people here that have come just to ogle an ex-Smith in the flesh. Trust me, an hour and a quarter in the company of The Cribs, it ceases to matter that we're in the presence of a man without whose musical influence bands like The Cribs probably wouldn't exist. An hour and a quarter in the company of The Cribs, you forget that (for now) a quarter of The Cribs is that man.
Good. Sorted. So here come The Cribs, fourth album 'Ignore The Ignorant' freshly on the shelves, for their biggest headline tour to date. The Apollo's packed out for them, and yeah there are the Marr trainspotters, but they're the minority - as we'll see, this is The Cribs' crowd. But go back a sentence - The Cribs are on their fourth album. Their fourth album in five years. In this day and age, that constitutes both longevity and prolific in one fell swoop. They need a new pre-gig tape though. The thirty-or-so minutes prior to them taking the stage is filled with what can only be 'Now That's What I Call Music 4'. Or maybe '5'. Yeah, like, reeeally ironic, guys. Although, gotta admit, I tapped a toe or two to the Pet Shop Boys. But this might be the first gig I've ever been to where, mere minutes before the main attraction is about to whip up a maelstrom, the crowd is swaying to T'Pau's 'China in Your Hand.' Bizarre.
The Cribs hit the stage with their orchestral intro music still ringing. And Manchester goes mad. Properly mad. The girl in front of me politely asks if I mind if she stands up during the gig. Jeez, how can you say no to that? Turns out it's not optional. The balcony's on its feet from the off. God knows what's going on down front as The Cribs fire off an astonishing opening salvo - 'We Were Aborted' (BIFF!), 'Hey Scenesters' (BANG!), 'I'm A Realist' (WHACK!), 'Emasculate Me' (POW!); fantastic, fantastic stuff. And here's the audience, belting out ev-ery single word. Like I say, definitely The Cribs' crowd.
Marr approaches his mic just before recent single 'Cheat On Me' and quietly greets his 'beautiful hometown', the song itself empirical proof that The Cribs are hitting maturity. It's noticeable that there's a warmer, more melodious side to the newer stuff - there's still an edge, it's just a bit more refined. It's thrown into sheer relief on 'We Share The Same Skies'. With its chiming guitar riff, hook-laden melodies and revealing lines about being nervous, it's like The Cribs have put down some songwriting roots, like (whisper it quietly) The Cribs have grown up. Whether that's anything to do with the addition of that second guitarist, who knows? They even find time for a ballad of sorts, 'Save Your Secrets' dispensing some lovely lyrics about being "devoured" by "your sense of romance".
And whilst all this is going on, I'm having a minor personal epiphany. Indulge me. I'll tell anyone who'll listen that I love watching live music. And I do, I really do. These days I even get to come home and write a few hundred words about how good/bad the particular live music was. But tonight I realised over the years I've lost something. I stand (or, increasingly these days, sit) there and I wait for the band to impress me. I barely bleeding applaud any band I'm watching these days. To those 16 year-old lads in the seats next to me, the lads who greeted every song like it was the greatest song ever, who bellowed every word to every song, who put their arms round each others' shoulders to do so; thank you. You'll probably never read this. No matter. Standing next to you lads tonight, I got to see my 16 year-old self again. The lad who shared that absolute unconcealed glee at having a band he loves playing their songs mere feet in front of them. Nice one.
Anyway, there's a gig going on here. And for the minority of Marr-disciples secretly wishing for some Smiths action, the title track from 'Ignore The Ignorant' offers some gratification with it's 'Panic'-y glam stomp. 'Be Safe' comes complete with Sonic Youth's Lee Ranaldo's monologue via video screen, the Jarmans (+1) providing the spooked backdrop. 'Mirror Kissers' from the 'New Fellas' album breaks free of its spindly recorded incarnation, band and audience conspiring to make a terrific racket. 'Men's Needs' brings things to a raucous crescendo, the sizable male contingent hollering along with the chorus about "men's needs" being "full of greed" without the merest hint of irony. Ryan Jarman pulls a mean Jim Morrisson, ominously warning that "There will be no encore...this...is the end", and true to his word, following 'City of Bugs', The Cribs exit. It's a neat trick, discarding the tired tradition of disappearing for a couple of minutes (you must have noticed that crowds don't even really shout for more these days, no?) but 'City of Bugs' is, at best, an odd choice to pull it with. But it's really the only damp squib of the night. Welcome to The Cribs 2009 model; older, wiser. But still a riot.
Tags: the cribs live music johnny marr matt rynn 360 degrees
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