They proved this just last week, playing a huge show at Leeds' Millennium Square to a crowd of almost 10,000. With support from Thurston Moore, Pulled Apart By Horses and Menace Beach, it was quite a line-up for the humble price of 20 quid. The Cribs have always seen the city of Leeds as a bit of a second home and are always welcomed to the stage there with adoring open arms. This is due to the four-piece having a sort of cult following in the north of England, playing six sold out "Cribsmas" shows at the Brudenell Social Club in December 2007 and two sell out nights at Leeds o2 Academy in December 2013 are testament to this.
The Jarmans have just about got off the road after extensively touring their most recent album, 2015's "For All My Sisters", which was a huge success for the band. They announced this "homecoming" show a few months back, they immediately made it clear just how much it meant to them to be playing a gig this big in their adopted hometown. This was echoed on the night, with bassist Gary repeatedly thanking the crowd and talking about how much of an unbelievable experience it was for them.The setlist was definitely career spanning, with songs from their 14 year discography being played throughout the hour and a half show. The band gave 2011 single "Leather Jacket Love Song" a relatively rare outing, this being the third time the group have played it since 2013. There were some curveballs in the set as well, opening with "Ancient History" from 2006's "Men's Needs, Women's Needs, Whatever" certainly wasn't what much of the crowd was expecting. Crowd favourites such as "Another Number" and "Men's Needs" also made an appearance alongside the lesser known tracks. A personal highlight of mine was experiencing the live performance of "Be Safe", a poetic punk masterpiece from their third album, it has always been something special but the performance at this show seemed somehow more significant, with everyone holding their arms up and shouting back every word. The set's closing number, and the closing song of their 6th studio album, "Pink Snow" really was something to behold as well.
The crowd was as rowdy as anyone would expect at a Cribs gig with hundreds of sweaty heads jumping into each other and twice as many pints flying through the air. I even witnessed the odd lighter ironically appear in the air during the occasional slow number. Ryan (guitar) seemed to be feeding off the crowd's energy, encouraging chants of "Yorkshire" and "Wakefield" as well as instructing the crowd on how and when to open up mosh pits, especially rowdy tracks such as "Hey Scenesters!" and "Our Bovine Public". The band also branched out for the show in regards to their stage set, incorporating a pretty extravagant light show and confetti, something which you wouldn't see at a standard Cribs show.
The legacy of The Cribs really must be considered pretty impressive, whether you enjoying listening to their music or not, the fact that they're still able to play shows this large really does prove that they have always been one of the better UK indie bands. On top of all this they recorded and played with Johnny Marr (one of the best musicians of all time) for a few years. And with more and more modern bands such as Catfish and the Bottlemen rising up through the ranks its good to see people still give a shit about The Cribs, one of the only bands from the 2000's indie scene that have managed to make a lasting impression. Most have gone the way of Kaiser Chiefs, who are still about, relying the chorus of "I Predict A Riot" to pull smaller, balder crowds as the years go by (but if you fancy a laugh you can listen to their latest track here).
After the show the band shared this statement on social media, once again thanking the fans they love so much for enabling them to put on the show: "We have played 833 Cribs shows over the years. Last night was #1. Still have no words to describe how special that was for us. Thanks to @thurstonmoore58 @pulled_apart_by_horses @menace_beach and every single person that came along X".
Here's to another 14 years.
Words: Liam Navey
