The Cribs are out on the road to showcase a fine new album!
The Cribs were at Oxford Academy 2 on Tuesday the 13th of January. This was part of their record shop tour dates to celebrate the release of Selling A Vibe. Our favourite independent record shops, Truck Records, were promoting the event tonight. Many present were picking up an album, or CD, to help in the battle for number 1 in the UK Album Chart with revived noughties boy band Blue. It was all to play for in the midweek update!
The Cribs were in remarkably laid-back form for a band that has a reputation for intensity. They seemed determined to enjoy themselves and there was quite a bit of banter. As is often the case with record shop gigs, it was a short-sharp 50 minutes. Somehow, they managed to squeeze fourteen tracks in, highlighting the shorter, punkier nature of a lot of their songs, as well as their no-nonsense approach to getting on with things. There was space for a couple of audience requests within that, though they could have kept going for ages with all the tracks getting shouted out.
They kicked off with a double header from their 2007 classic album Men’s Needs, Women’s Needs, Whatever with ‘Our Bovine Public’ and ‘Girls Like Mystery.’ We got five tracks from the fantastic new album. ‘Never The Same’ is an absolute highlight, as good as anything they have previously written.
There is some discussion about what they have played in Oxford before. In fact, this was their seventh appearance at the venue. They have been around long enough for it to still have been The Oxford Zodiac, on their first appearance in 2004. This was their first visit in eight years. Those attending got a more intimate gig in the cosier surroundings of the upstairs Academy 2 room.
The universe would of course collapse and break if they finished on any other track than ‘Men’s Needs.’ Will they ever write a better one? They had a pretty good effort at it on Selling A Vibe. A few people were disappointed by how swiftly it was all over. You can’t really complain about such a decent quality fifty minutes, with a top band, in a much smaller venue than you would normally catch them in. It was a fun evening and they will be well worth catching as they tour more throughout the year.
The Cribs played:
- Our Bovine Public
- Girls Like Mystery
- Selling A Vibe
- Things You Should Be Knowing
- Martell
- Another Number
- A Point Too Hard to Make
- Never the Same
- You’ll Tell Me Anything
- Cheat On Me
- What About Me
- Leather Jacket Love Song
- Summer Seizures
- Men’s Needs.
They are back out on the road for a headline tour in March with the excellent Courting in support:
The Cribs – UK headline tour
18 Mar – Boiler Shop, Newcastle, UK ^
20 Mar – Foundry, Sheffield, UK ^ (SOLD OUT)
21 Mar – Albert Hall, Manchester, UK ^ (SOLD OUT)
22 Mar – O2 Institute 1, Birmingham, UK ^
24 Mar – Rock City, Nottingham, UK ^
25 Mar – Tramshed, Cardiff, UK ^
27 Mar – Concorde 2, Brighton, UK ^
28 Mar – Concorde 2, Brighton, UK ^ (SOLD OUT)
11 Jul – Millennium Square, Leeds, UK
26 Jul – Truck Festival, Steventon, UK
^ = Support from Courting
Leave a Reply