Cribs Get Torontonians Moving

Put a Los Angeles indie rock band will country leanings, an oddball, hyperactive comedian and singer/songwriter and a British rock band with punk rock and jangle-pop influences together and what do you get? Quite possibly the weirdest bill that's visited Toronto in a while.

Los Angeles' The Dead Trees opened things up at the Phoenix Concert Theatre on Friday (Jan. 15) with their jangly brand of alt.country. Although there were only about 100 people in the venue when they were on stage, their set demonstrated their keen songwriting and performance capabilities, and indicated they'll be ones to watch in 2010 and beyond.

Extra points go out to singer/guitarist Michael Cummings, who said at one point, "Who said Toronto didn't know how to rock out? ... Nobody, that's who! Fuck that!"

The Dead Trees emerged again following a brief break to serve as Adam Green's backing band. Green came out looking like a gangly Julian Casablancas with his hair slicked back and sporting tight grey jeans and a black leather jacket (with nothing underneath).

He then proceeded to show Toronto what it would be like if Casablancas developed some kind of severe form of ADHD and a predilection for rock influenced by early '50s R&B. Green ran back and forth on stage, flailing his arms and legs, looking like he was in the midst of some kind of fit. The jacket came off towards the end of the show, and it's amazing he didn't end up on the floor or kicking someone in the front row in the head. (He apparently did this at a later show.)

Although there really wasn't much to his performance and it seemed absolutely stupid, you've got to give it to Green for breaking out of the stance every musician seems to have taken lately. He was far from still and nearly put The Cribs to shame in terms of how much he was moving around on stage, even if it was gimmicky.

The Cribs' fourth album, last year's Ignore The Ignorant, is their strongest disc to date. It's their first with former Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr. He joined the band following the release of 2007's Men's Needs, Women's Needs, Whatever, and contributes to the band's songwriting for the first time on Ignore The Ignorant.

Marr's strengths as a guitarist and songwriter are two of the things that make Ignore The Ignorant The Cribs' best effort to date. That was apparent live, as the band only played a few songs from their back catalogue and mostly stuck to tunes from their latest effort.

The band began with Ignore The Ignorant's opener, "We Were Aborted," before moving through a handful of (somewhat) older tunes like "Hey Scenesters," "I'm A Realist" and "The Wrong Way To Be."

The crowd at the front of the stage was full of slam dancers from the start, pogoing up and down in a way that would have made Sid Vicious proud. It's safe to say Toronto put its reputation as a city that doesn't like to have fun to rest at this gig. The only respite from the flailing arms and bouncing bodies came during Ignore The Ignorant's "Last Year's Snow," one of the two ballad-type tracks on the album that's sung by vocalist/bassist Gary Jarman.

"Where did all the slam dancers go?" singer/guitarist Ryan Jarman asked afterwards before launching into Ignore's first single, "Cheat On Me." They didn't let up throughout the rest of the show.

Marr's skills as a guitarist were on full display during closer "City Of Bugs," Ignore The Ignorant's six-minute shoegaze-influenced stomp that also happens to be its best track. One could reasonably expect a person with Marr's musical stature and abilities to overshadow the Jarmans, particularly in a live situation. But Marr is mostly just along for the ride, boosting the Jarmans' live and songwriting chops and — as a young man at the coat check post-show said — "carries the song."

Live, "City Of Bugs" was absolutely blistering and destroyed anything the band had played prior to it. It's with good reason that the Yorkshire/Manchester quartet stomped off stage following the track and didn't return to play an encore. Though that might come across as cocky in this day and age, they really didn't need to come back after Toronto had heard and seen that display.

At this point in their careers, The Cribs are doing what every other band should be doing: honing their chops, stepping outside their comfort zones and getting really, really, really, really good. Instead, most bands plateau by their fourth album and then drop off into obsurity. The Cribs seem like they're only going to get better from here, and that's a great thought.