The Cribs came on first although they should have been on second. The trio from Yorkshire, England provided a strong and solid set full of songs from The New Fellas. I missed the opener, but it was apparently "Hey Scenester!" which is appropriate since most of the people who like The Cribs fall into that category. Although, disappointingly, there are no scenesters in the crowd here at the Fillmore tonight. More songs were played, and more drunken banter was given by Gary while his brothers, Ryan and Ross, provided more theatrics. They even did a cover song - but the title escapes me at the moment. An amazingly short set, but it packed a punch.
Speaking of punches, the next band didn't have the punch that was needed. Or, to put it another way, I would have liked to punch these guys out so they can hurry up with their set. Local boy (Berkeley) Brendan Benson started off right with a really good indie pop rawk tune but afterwards everything sounded the same. There was no "umph" in most of the songs, and this is coming from someone who has never heard of Brendan Benson and was open to the idea of possibly liking his tunes. Their sound reminds me of Ambulance Ltd. although Ambulance is much better. Even when Mr. Benson played an acoustic guitar, I still couldn't tell much of a difference from one song to the next.
Then the Kaiser Chiefs came on. They had the lighting and they have the background (the largest football towel ever created with the Kaiser Chiefs' album cover on it) to show that this band definitely has arisen from indie stars to arena rock. The high powered, high energy, heavy clapping and yelling set featured all the hits off their debut album with a few new songs (or were they b-sides?) mixed therein.
Ricky Wilson was as jumpy and energetic as ever. I swear the guy must be on speed everytime he comes on. His jumping scares me sometimes, especially since that's how he broke his ankle the last time they were in the U.S. They opened up with "Na Na Na Na Naa" amidst the glow of disco lights that nearly blinded me. "I Predict a Riot" was played about 4 songs after that, with the crowd going hog wild over it. Then the Chiefs mellowed it down for a bit with the beautiful "You Can Have It All." Ricky says that if you don't like that song, then you don't have soul. Apparently, everyone in the crowd had soul, including lucky audience member Elizabeth joining Ricky on-stage for a dance and a serenade.
My favourite track from the album is "Oh My God!" I had to restrain myself from jumping up high at some point. Even stop myself from running to the front and join the merry people hopping like bunny rabbits. A similar reaction happened during "Modern Way."
After the main set, the crowd wanted more. And they yelled out "Kaiser Chiefs!" ad nauseum and did the clap that we so often hear at shows. They came back out with a thunderous ovation from the crowd. They closed with "Caroline, Yes," which is a weird way to close out the set.
Overall, the Kaiser Chiefs were spectacular. The Cribs are very promising and I will check them out when they headline the smaller venues here. Brendan Benson is alright, but at least I can say I checked them out.
3 comments:
I'm wondering... what's a half a beer gonna look like with your new PBR graphic?
half a beer should look like a crumpled-up beer can, right?
Like that.
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