The Cribs at the Forum

Somewhat shockingly 2007 was ten years ago. It’s not shocking in terms of mathematics (2017-10=2007), but rather in terms of what the indie-alternative music scene has produced in that time. The gluttonous early-noughty explosion saw bands like the Strokes, the Arctic Monkeys and Franz Ferdinand drag the genre by its cuffs into the mainstream, but, just as quickly as it came, it went. However, for those true diehards out there, the Cribs decided to wind back the clock, and play their seminal classic Men’s Needs, Women’s Needs, Whatever in its entirety. For the two thousand or so people at the Forum last night, it was the perfect antidote to the poisonous ersatz-rock that groups like Imagine Dragons and others seem to shamelessly peddle.

Celebrating its tenth birthday this year, it is, without doubt, their showpiece record, as Ryan Jarman seems all to happily acknowledge (“Thank God we’re not one of those bands that only has one good album”, he says, with a smirk). Kicking off with gutsy opener Our Bovine Public, it’s clear that despite its advancing years, the record is still a firm favourite of those in attendance. Their short snappy songs absolutely whizz by, one punchy hook and hollered chorus after another, with the audience finding their voice nice and early. The Forum erupts as the classic intro to Men’s Needs (surely one of the best of the era – complaints on a postcard please) fills the auditorium.

The classics keep coming, Moving Pictures and I’m a Realist receiving similar fervorous adulation from the crowd. Before long we’re into the stadium-filling Be Safe, and the stage fills with none other than the spectre of Lee Ranaldo, finally as vast as a projection as he was an influence on modern rock. Screams of “I know a place we can go!” intersperse his hypnotic verse and, before you know it, the record wraps to the gentle chords of Shoot the Poets. Select hits from other albums follow, but everyone has by this point had their fill.

The time machine worked, if only for an hour and fifteen minutes, and filtering back out into the world of Brexit, Trump and impending elections, people look back and drop that inevitable cliché–things were a bit better back then. Rock music certainly was and, thankfully, Men’s Needs, Women’s Needs, Whatever got the 10^th birthday a record of its thumping quality deserved.

James Fisher

For further information about the Cribs and future events visit here.

Watch the video for Men’s Needs here: