Face Of Cheam

Tuesday I saw the Cribs at The Astoria. Did a bit of a crawl before, taking in Bradleys where there was a youngish attractive crowd in the downstairs bar. The place is a Spainish bar and I had a very nice pint of Bitburger although a bit pricey at £3.30, especially as previously I had gone into two Samuel Smiths places where they manage to still have Alpine Lager under £2! I followed Bradleys by my first visit to the new ‘Intrepid Fox’. London’s pub for metallers has moved to the old Conservatory pub behind Denmark Street. This place had two very attractive, tatooed rock chicks behind the bar, once of which continued to dance to each of the rock tracks being played. The pub is much more airy than some pubs and although it was fairly quiet it gets my nod of approval.
The Cribs came on at half nine and did an hour twenty. They introduced theirselves as ‘We’re The Cribs From Wakefield’ in a horrible northern accent which doesn’t do them any favours. The set was most of their new album although the crowds reactions were more positive for the old songs such as Martell and Mirror Kisses. This is understandable as the latest album is only a week old and probably not familiar to everyone, however it also isn’t as catchy as their earlier work and as such suffers. The acoustic Shoot The Poets was played near the end of the set and was lost on most people in the venue. Still they ended with a singalong in the shape of ‘Wrong Way To Be’ from their very good ‘New Fellas’ album. No encores which is what a lot of modern bands like. As to the audience, I did feel quite old. I would say mainly teenagers and at least a 50/50 male to female ratio. Whether that is a lasting audience you don’t know, and as such the band need to keep the quality for future to ensure they can sell out places such as the Astoria. Set list below;
'MTV' 'Hey Scenesters!' 'Our Bovine Public' 'You're Gonna Lose Us' 'Girls Like Mystery' 'I'm A Realist' 'Moving Pictures' 'I'm Alright Me' 'I've Tried Everything' 'Women's Needs' 'Martell' 'Men's Needs' 'My Life Flashed Before My Eyes' 'We Can Longer Cheat You' 'Mirror Kisses' 'Another Number' 'Ancient History' 'Shoot The Poets' 'Wrong Way To Be'