The British rock band of brothers, The Cribs, lit up the Phoenix Concert Theatre last Friday night. Along for the ride with Gary, Ryan and Ross Jarman was none other than the newest member of the band ex-Smiths and guitar legend Johnny Marr. I happened to miss Johnny when he came to town last with Modest Mouse so attending this show was a no brainer. The Cribs have been critized for being too much like other British bands, mainly "The Libertines", however their last couple of albums have a few gems on them that I'd been listening to in preparation to the event.
The band started their energetic set with a "We Were Aborted" from their latest release "Ignore The Ignorant". It took no time at all for the crowd of hardcore fans I found myself surrounded by to go nuts for one of their favourite bands. Twins Gary and Ryan took turns on lead vocals while Ross banged diligently on the drums and Johnny's guitar echoed through out the venue.
Along ran the set with songs like "Hey Scenesters", "I'm A Realist", "Cheat on Me", and others before one of the gems from "Men's Needs, Women's Needds, Whatever" "Be Safe" was played with with some video help from "Lee Ranaldo" of "Sonic Youth" doing spoken word as the band played on.
They finished off the encore-less set with "Mens Needs" and "City of Bugs" leaving the Phoenix crowd chanting for more.
Adam Green:
Supporting The Cribs were the quite impressive band from Portland, Oregon "The Dead Trees". They had just finished off their set and then returned to the stage leaving everyone wondering if Adam Green would be making an appearance. Then before anyone could think twice Adam Green jumped out onto the stage and delivered an entertaining though slightly odd performance.
Dressed in tight jeans and an even tighter fitted leather jacket Adam Green hopped around the stage and entertained his fans during his short set with songs like "Emily" , "Jessica" yes.. Simpson, before finishing off with his most impressive "Baby's Gonna Die". Altogether quite entertaining. I'll be looking out for "The Dead Trees" and hope for them to make their return to Toronto soon.
