The Cribs @ Rosemount, Perth13/02/2010

Fri 19th Feb, 2010 in Gig Reviews

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Gathering at the Rosemount are young and old Brit-rock fans all waiting to catch a glimpse of The Cribs and former Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr but they will have to wait. Luckily there are two local bands waiting to fulfil their musical needs.

The Words have recently garnered great success both here and on US college radio. Their music is melodic with a certain amount of scorn. Ben Macri’s vocals pound through the room with a delicate tone not seen in too many vocalists (let alone in the rock genre). Most songs are Jangle-Pop based but have an added originality to them that is quite indescribable. After a 45 minute set, they say their polite farewells to a room of cheering supporters. Sometimes you hear about a band having their moment and this most certainly was The Words’s moment.

With the Words being a hard act to follow, The Spitfires had a difficult job on their hands. Sean Regan, the lead Spitfire, starts off with a new song and some new moves. Regan moves up the guitar frets like a robot and sways in jerky rhythm to the bass and drums. They play local favourites Camden Town Is Burning Down and Skeletons to an excited crowd and receive a great response, though Regan seems to understand who the crowd is really there for, remarking between songs “I know you’re waiting for the Cribs but you’ll have to fucking put up with us first”.

After at least an hour’s wait cameras start flashing from outside the Rosemount and suddenly The Cribs with Marr in tow have arrived. The minute they reach the stage, the crowd starts cheering ecstatically and when the band starts playing, a mosh pit instantly forms and a chaos of crowd surfing ensues.

The Cribs play a series of old hits and songs off their most recent album Ignore the Ignorant. The Jarman brothers jump around the stage and speak of their love of Perth. The new songs are hard and fast with political themes while the old ones have more melody and are way more catchy. Front man Ryan Jarman strums his guitar like he’s revving up a chainsaw and Marr backs the band up with his signature jangley rhythm. Energetic and full of feeling, the Cribs prove that they are more than just another British NME hyped band, they are actually one of the best live bands in the music scene today.

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