For many, The Cribs are the definitive indie band of the past 10 years and with performances like this, it’s not hard to see why. There was definitely a sense of anticipation in the air amongst the people that weren’t at the main stage of Boardmasters on Saturday night just for Zane Lowe’s DJ set (which was fantastic, by the way).

The band, complete with two extra guitarists, entered the stage to raucous cheers and applause and ripped straight into a lightening quick rendition of 2012 single ‘Come On, Be A No-One’, the set continued in this fashion with all the big Cribs songs (‘Men’s Needs’, ‘Hey Scenesters!’, ‘Be Safe’ and ‘I’m A Realist’) being played. ‘Be Safe’ in particular was a highlight for me and seemingly many people in the audience, with lighters being brought out and the chorus being bellowed back to the band by a large amount of people.

After a quick shout out to Snoop Dogg who was playing later on that night on the main stage, Ryan Jarman gave a little talk about what people at festivals like to do: “They like to mosh a lot, so I wanna see some of that around here!”, resulting in the last three songs having a circle pit the size of a fairly large front room.  The only problem with their set is that it was only 45 minutes long, I think a headline slot wouldn’t have been met with too many complaints but apart from that, it was a solid set from the UK’s biggest cult band.

Junior Cobbinah

Photo: Andrew Hobbs