I was cruising Toronto’s show listings early in 2010 and I noticed that The Cribs were playing The Phoenix mid-month. I jumped at the chance to catch the show. Above is the best example I could find to give you a sense of the show I ended up witnessing.
I first got into the band when I worked at their Record Label around the time their last record ‘Men’s Needs, Women’s Needs, Whatever’ dropped. Now, the band has since added Johnny Marr (known from his days in The Smiths) and loaded up a new record by the name of ‘Ignore The Ignorant.’
The week before the show I decided to get my hands on the new record. I was immediately blown away — the effect of the textural guitar work of Johnny Marr was obvious; the famous axeman had definitely left his mark on the band. The new songs were more upbeat and catchy. This was going to be a great show.
We arrived just in time to grab a beer before the band hit the stage to roaring applause. The Phoenix was noticably packed — which surprised me, as barely anyone I know has even heard of this band (speaking ever more to the fragmented musical marketplace we currently find ourselves in).
The Cribs launched into three great tracks to kick off the show: “We Were Aborted” (the new lead single), “Hey Scenesters” and “I’m A Realist.” The three well-known songs set the tone for the show.
One great aspect of seeing this band live for the first time was cluing into how the duel-vocal approach of Gary and Ryan Jarman actually plays out live. Also of note was watching Marr, calmly riffing out the tunes on his low-hanging Fender Jazzmaster (or Jaguar…it was tough to tell which guitar he had chosen). There were also two great moments of spontaneity when drummer Ross Jarman actually stood on top of his drumkit to perform a snare-roll during a couple songs. He definitely wasn’t glued to his seat for the whole performance!
One of the coolest moments of the show was when the band performed “Be Safe” — a track that features a voice-over by Lee Ranaldo of Sonic Youth. The band launched in the half-instrumental track along with a giant backdrop behind the band, featuring a video of Lee performing his guest-vocal. The video was great to watch, showing Lee doing all kinds of crazy things with various props. I apologize for not having video from this particular show, but this will have to do (thanks to YouTube!):
The biggest thing I took away from this particular night was that this show, and the new record as a whole, has given me a new sense of appreciation for Johnny Marr. I will fully admit that I’m not the biggest ‘Smiths fan in the world, but after listening to this new record I can now get a feel for the unique guitar-style of Mr. Marr. I hear the transition the band has made and it makes a world of difference to my ears.
As previously mentioned, I was surprised at just how full The Phoenix was on this night, but hopefully next Cribs show will be sold out completely! Happy listening.
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