The Cribs, Brudenell Social Club review: Why three is the magic number for Yorkshire brothers

Having attended live Cribs shows throughout the country for decades, it’s difficult to pin-point a favourite. Supporting The Sex Pistols at Brixton Academy, the secret gig at Wire under the guise of The New Fellas, the riotous Men’s Needs campaign at Escobar in Wakefield. Every fan will have their defining moment.

For many in attendance at The Brudenell, Thursdays show was a timely reminder as to why they became fans in the first place. Many faces I have met through their shows old and new were packed wall to wall to either re-live the debut again or to experience it fresh for the first time in its entirety.

There was a real sense of the brothers doing a victory lap, a well-deserved run through of the past discography to showcase why they are still the best live act on the circuit. Studio albums can be nixed, edited and polished for the want of a sound, a sound that is blisteringly brilliant, scrappy, knife edged and amped-up to 11 on the stage.

The Cribs shine so brightly on the road.

Though the blood and the stagediving may now be either a long-gone moment or a sign of the band not wanting to trade cliches and let the music do the talking, the energy and passion has only flourished and intensified over the years.

Small venues with little to no barrier or ten security workers ruining the ambience with their high-vis jackets, The Cribs up-close and personal experience is second to none. You feel connected, you feel symbiotic with the band.

As the last UK show for a while, the brothers took a bow centre stage. It felt poignant, it felt a little final. Where next we will have to wait to see, but for now with ears ringing and chants of ‘Wakefield’ in our hearts, let’s savour this moment as the audacious and in their words ‘perverse’ moment that three working class lads from the Merrie City, infiltrated the suits and the mainstream on their own terms. Good that’s what I say.