The Crookes, The Cluny, Newcastle
- Written by Lee Hammond
Arriving early this evening, we descend the stairs into one of our favourite venues. Coincidently we’re here tonight to see one of our favourite bands too The Crookes but before they come on stage, there's the small matter of this evening's support band, High Hazels, who come from Sheffield, also home to this evenings headliners. The guys take to the stage with a laddish swagger, wasting no time as they break into song. Singer James has a great Yorkshire twang to his voice, and their set is filled with heartfelt tunes, most of which wouldn’t be out of place being chanted from the terraces of any football ground. They have a sound that is not dissimilar to The Crookes, proving them to be the perfect accompaniment this evening.
Bursting on to the stage sharply dressed and full of bravado, The Crookes, waste no time. As they’re out on tour in support of their third album, the set is heavily populated with new tracks and it’s safe to say as the band have grown so too have their influences, their music obviously benefitting from this. The new tracks have a much fuller sound; gone are some of the more twee elements, instead replaced with excellent pop sensibilities. That said, we take nothing away from those twee tracks and they still provoke huge crowd reactions. ‘American Girls’ is by far the stand out track which is met with a sing along. The Crookes early material has such a distinct sound to it, it reminds us of Orange Juice and the Edwyn Collins produced Frankie And The Heartstrings material.
‘Chorus Of Fools’ rings out throughout the venue, provoking another huge crowd reaction, the band dancing like fools on stage. Whilst older tracks may see best reactions, the crowd are wonderfully attentive throughout the newer elements of their set. ‘Don’t Put Your Faith in Me’ goes down particularly well, and is somewhat slower than that which The Crookes fans have come to expect. However, it maintains their love of pop and their heart on their sleeve lyrical abilities.
This evening’s set is a triumphant one, effortlessly blending the old with the new, whilst newer material sees a slight change of pace. Soapbox may not necessarily be what people were expecting, but it is a great album and this evening has allowed the band to truly show off how brilliant these new tracks are. We leave believing that a change of pace is definitely a good thing and we can’t wait to hear where The Crookes go next.