Having had Tube and other logistical issues, I arrived in the venue very near to the end of The Ting Tings' set. From what I heard, though (which was set closer This Is Not My Name, plus the song before it), they sounded really quite good. A shame I didn't get there earlier, because I really liked what I heard for the 5 minutes that I caught of them.
Does It Offend You, Yeah? were on next, and had a huge backdrop with their logo on it at the back of the stage. They emerged into a huge cloud of smoke, and started playing their set - the band comprised a drummer, keyboardist, and a couple of guitarists. They are not exactly a mainstream taste, and I don't think I would ever listen to their recorded stuff - they reminded me a bit of seeing The Prodigy live about 10 years ago. The noise was amazing (and there was a lot of it), and the crowd really got going to it. One thing I did think was that they didn't really have that many decent songs (in the normal sense of the word "song") - like a lot of dance-ish bands, everything seemed to blend together into one long set of quiet bits, loud bits, slow bits, fast bits and mental bits. An interesting band to have seen, a good laugh, and a good live show - but not exactly my cup of tea.
Next up, and the main support act, were Joe Lean and the Jing Jang Jong. Kind of a "manufactured" indie band that were born quite famous, mostly because the singer used to be the drummer in The Pipettes. They have a couple of songs recorded, both of which sound quite good. However, I had heard before the gig that they tend to sound better on record than they do live - the star of the band is their record producer. Despite having expectations that weren't huge, I still managed to be disappointed by them - they just didn't seem to have any decent tunes (beyond the few I'd heard before).
Whether their songs need time to grow, I don't know, but the very obvious highlights were Lucio Starts Fires, and new single Lonely Buoy, which is a very good song indeed. But, if this band manage to sell out Brixton Academy as a headline act, any time in the next few years, I would be truly amazed. And, when you consider that they are in a good slot for promising new bands, previously occupied by Arctic Monkeys and The View, they are not in the same league. I don't want to write them off completely, but I wasn't impressed at all really.
The same could not be said of The Cribs, however. In fact, quite the opposite. From the moment they walked on stage, and opened with Don't You Wanna Be Relevant, followed by Our Bovine Public, they tore the place down. Last time I saw them was on a windswept outdoor stage at Glastonbury, in torrential rain, and they weren't bad then! This time, in a pack Brixton, with not much lighting but lots of smoke, they were incredible. The moshpit went all the way back to the mixing desk, and people were generally going cranky throughout the venue. Even for a really popular and mental band at Brixton, I don't think I've ever seen a moshpit so big there before. Song after song that The Cribs played were excellent, Moving Pictures and Hey Scenesters getting predictably rave reactions. Then, the special surprise moment of the gig. Johnny Marr walked on stage, the band played Panic, and he stayed with them for the rest of the set. Panic sounded incredible, Marr's guitar obviously being fantastic, but Ryan Jarman's vocals also excellent. The gig ended with a sweaty mass of people in a pile in the middle of the floor, and was a pretty good summary of how intense, mental, and just generally brilliant it had been. Much credit to The Cribs, they certainly know how to put on a great show. Despite having only 3 members, no stage set, and not moving around much at times, they brought the house down. A crowd that was well up for it certainly helped, but The Cribs played their part and put on an amazing show.
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