GIG REVIEW: The Cribs + Courting @ Boiler Shop, Newcastle, Wednesday 18 March 2026
The Cribs have come a long way since they were formed by twin brothers Gary and Ryan Jarman and younger sibling Ross in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, in 2001.
They’ve released nine studio albums, been named as one of the top 20 indie bands ever, had The Smiths legend Johnny Marr as a member and seen an exhibition devoted to them at their home town’s museum, to name just a few achievements.
Impressively for a band of their vintage, they’ve also retained a large and loyal following, despite the fact they barely played live for three years while fighting to regain control of their early catalogue.
They’ve maintained their lo-fi indie charm and knack of writing killer pop songs, as evidenced by their latest album Selling A Vibe, which was the best-performing of their career, making No 5 in the UK.
It’s that album (reviewed here) which a packed Boiler Shop is here to hear them play, along with selected highlights from a back catalogue which has won them awards from the likes of Q and NME, as well as the hearts of thousands of fans.
It’s the opening night of the tour, and after a well-received opening set by Liverpool art punks Courting, The Cribs hit the stage to Dark Luck, the fuzz-filled opening track on Selling A Vibe.
The stage is immediately awash with blinding lights as scuzzy guitar threatens to drown out everything else, but happily, the sound mix has improved by the time we get halfway through second song Our Bovine Public – one of several Cribs classics which get the place bouncing tonight.
The Cribs’ sound is based around Ryan’s repetitive, high-pitched riffing, with bassist Gary and drummer Ross laying down a rock-solid groove, and the twins trading call-and-response vocals. With the help of touring guitarist Russell Searle (skulking in the shadows rather than out front), they make a very pleasing racket, which always sounds like it’s about to fall apart, but never does.
Selling A Vibe accounts for about a third of tonight’s 85-minute set, with lead single Summer Seizures, Never The Same and the excellent A Point Too Hard To Make the pick of the new material.
There are gems aplenty in the back catalogue, but there’s no way we’re going to hear them all tonight; the ones which are aired are greeted like old friends by an audience who, like The Cribs, are largely in their 40s now, rather than their carefree 20s.
Fists punch the air and creaking limbs are pressed into service in the moshpit as the boys wheel out stone cold indie bangers like Hey Scenesters!, I’m A Realist and Men’s Needs alongside deeper album cuts like City Of Bugs and I’m Alright Me.
Seven of their nine albums are represented in the setlist, including two songs from their self-titled debut, one early in the set and the other in the middle. Sadly, first single Another Number isn’t one of them, but The Lights Went Out and Direction take me on a huge nostalgia trip, back to when I first saw The Cribs supporting The Ordinary Boys (remember them?) back in 2005.
It’s a surprise that previous album Night Network (reviewed here) isn’t better represented. Released at the height of Covid-19, it’s the album they never really got to tour, and only the excellent Running Into You makes the cut here.
As the home straight approaches, there’s a first live rendition of Brothers Won’t Break from the latest record, a message of defiance from these brothers who just won’t lie down.
A rapturously-received Mirror Kissers raises the temperature even higher, before an epic Be Safe, complete with the taped voice of Sonic Youth’s Lee Ranaldo, brings the night to a climactic close.
There’s no (fake) encore, but everyone leaves with a smile on their face, content in the knowledge that The Cribs have given it their all. Remember them leave it all out there on stage. Remember them asking Don’t You Wanna Be Relevant? way back in 2007? They’re just proved, if there was any doubt, that they still are.
