The Cribs bring blistering UK swagger to Motorco

Photos by Kevin Norris

West Yorkshire brothers The Cribs rolled into Motorco Music Hall in Durham Friday night in support of their latest album, In the Belly of the Brazen Beast, and delivered a blistering 15-song set for a small yet supportive crowd.

The band came out guns a blazing with "Chi-Town" from the new album and didn't let up rolling through  catchy tune after catchy tune including "I'm a Realist," "Come On, Be a No-One" and "Hey Scenesters!"

Even though the crowd wasn't huge, the band seemed very happy to in Durham and heaped praise on the town throughout the night. The said that they'd had a great time in town and were appreciative when people show up to their shows, noting that they hadn't been to Durham since they opened for Death Cab For Cutie and Franz Ferdinand at Duke in 2006.

The band dipped back to their 2004 self-titled debut to play the songs "Another Number" and "Baby Don't Sweat" which blended perfectly with the rest of the set. Their ability to right fantastic, catchy alt-rock dates back to their earliest releases and has gotten stronger over time.

With the help of a projection of Sonic Youth's Lee Ranaldo to reprise his spoken word role from the album Men's Needs, Women's Needs, Whatever, the band performed the art rock song "Be Safe" which sounded amazing live.

The Cribs has a bit of that 1990s fire in them which was on display not only in the band's music, but their stage presence as well. Bassist and singer Gary Jarman didn't seem to be in the best mood on stage and knocked over his mic on numerous occasions. He was very cordial with the crowd in-between songs, but had a bit of an attitude otherwise which really added to the vibe of the show.

The evening ended in rock and roll fashion, with some great closing songs, "Men's Needs" and "City of Bugs" then a few cymbal and mic stands hit the stage, guitars were left feeding back and the band left the stage. The band puts on a hell of a show and hopefully word will spread and more folks will turn out to experience it if the band returns to the Triangle.

Set list
Chi-Town
I'm a Realist
Cheat on Me
Come On, Be a No-One
Hey Scenesters!
Anna
Back to the Bolthole
Mirror Kisses
Jaded Youth
Another Number
Baby Don't Sweat
Be Safe
Glitters Like Gold
Men's Needs
City of Bugs