Friday 19/08/05 The Cribs, Geoffrey Lewis, Black Wire, The Pedestrians @ Bierkeller, Manchester

August 20, 2005 by Johnny Nicholson

Without counting the Kaiser Chiefs, Leeds, that geat northern city has consistently managed to produce some of the most crazy indie outfits of the 21st Century, with Manchester not far behind in the quality stakes, tonight at the Bierkeller is shaping up to be a corker before Gigwise even gets through the door.

So it’s exciting to see the first act of tonight, The Pedestrians a three-piece band from Manchester, who clearly know how to rock a joint or two. From the outset, people dance to the loud driving tunes, packed with classic Manc-rock attitude and brashness. They have a real presence too, you know what they're about, no nonsense rock ‘n’ roll in the vain of Oasis and The Stone Roses but with a bit of punk thrown in for good measure. Stand out tune is 'Money', something that the front man Liam reckons Bloc Party fans should save, also there’s 'Straighten Me Out' a tune that polishes off a professional set that manages to provide maximum enjoyment.

Conversations stop as people pack themselves in tightly at the feet of Yorkshire outfit Black Wire, sans drummer. Given that Black Wire haven’t played Manchester in a while, there's real excitement, especially as they offer out badges to the adoring crowd-WOW. With an album under their skinny white belts, they go through the songs at a lightening pace, each song is played well but 'Smoke & Mirrors' is easily the highlight of the set. Black Wires main achievement is that they manage to convey emotion despite the potential coldness of their drum machine.

Next up is Geoffrey Lewis, who is certainly the most acoustic and experimental act of tonight’s line-up in the now completely full and drunken Bierkeller. He starts off with 'Arrow' which unfortunatly seems like a sound check, leaving the crowd confused. He manages to get going with 'The Man With The Golden Arm'. The bierkeller crowd have developed a love hate relationship with poor old Jeff; some show ambivalence and carry on with conversations while others give him cheers and a warm round of applause. With 'No LSD Tonight' Jeff finally manages to win the crowd over.

The Cribs finally ascend the stage after a few teething problems with their sound, to recieve the biggest cheer of the night, they kick off with 'Hey Scenesters' essentially a pop song but carried off with rock ‘n’ roll panache. The security on the stage along with the tech support and manager battle with the crowd to keep them off stage, this is real a struggle as the crowd are thrusting towards the front, people climbing on amps so they can have a place to dance, dedicating every available space to pay homage to The Cribs, a haphazard sing-a-long esues in a crowd who know every-single-****ing-word.

The Cribs run through 'Mirror Kisses' like they are out of control, they aren't, the raw energy and power that goes into the song feels like these guys are on a mission to single handily rescue music from the clutches of the handbag house and dance that most cities have become tragically accustomed to. The crowd is wild, there’s crowd surfing and stage diving. 'Another Number' is greeted with with a roar and the crowd surfing continues with the band joining in, things get wonderfully manic...it is the end to a sticky smile fulled evening, It not that grim up North y'know.

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