THE BLUESKINS + THE CRIBS + 10,000 THINGS.
AT SCARBOROUGH KAZBAH. 24/01/04.
Rumour has it there’s a volcanic new scene waiting to erupt in the vicinity of Leeds, if that’s so then at its core must surely be 10,000 Things, a six-man explosion of riff and mischief.
They’ve been together for two years honing their skills in basements, pubs and dingy rehearsal spaces, and are now ready to unleash their rockin’ mash-up nationwide at venues such as the Kazbah in Scarborough.
Much of the crowd chose to ignore the band. Those people are fools. Those that did pay the band some attention witnessed a fantastic set. I was very impressed. They sound great on CD but they are even better live.
Frontman Sam Riley is so full of energy. They delivered a set of soon to be rock classics. Tracks such as ‘Oh No!’, taken from the new ‘Foodchain EP’.
Just as random dancing man started to get warmed up, 10,000 Things performed their final track. Their set may have finished, but that sure wasn’t the last we were going to see of a certain guitarist from the band.
I hadn’t heard anything at all by The Cribs but the second they wandered on stage I knew I was going to like them. How couldn’t I? One member was wearing tacky sunglasses, another wore a leopard print top and sparkly jacket! Wow! They had good songs too, really, really, really good songs. Guitar pop at it’s very best.
They put on a great live show. They seemed to be really enjoying themselves. Towards the end of their set that certain guitarist from 10,000 Things joined them on stage and dropped his trousers. Nice. Feeling left out, a member of The Cribs stripped down to just his pants. Random dancing man was having a great time. He was joined down front by random drunken man. He seemed to be unaware of everything going on around him. It was all very surreal but highly entertaining.
The Cribs are officially my new favourite band. Tracks such as ‘Another Number’ and new single ‘You Were Always The One’ seemed to go down really well with the ever growing crowd. The Cribs are going to huge this year. They should have headlined. They didn’t. But I’m sure they’ll be back.
Headlining duties were left to Wakefield four-piece The Blueskins. The band consists of former boxer Ryan Spendlove on guitar and vocals, seventeen year old Richie Townsend on a second guitar, Ryan's old school friend Maff Smith on the bass and Paul Brown on drums.
I saw them at the Leeds Festival last summer and wasn’t that impressed by them. 5 months later and they are a million times better than back then. It was like I was witnessing a totally different band.
After suffering a few problems with one of their amps, they opened with ‘Tell Me I’m Someone’. They grabbed the attention of the crowd straight away. Even the people at the bar were actually watching the band.
After single ‘User Friendly’ came one of the set highlights ‘Number 23’. I was surprised at how many people in the crowd were familiar with The Blueskins. Lots of people down front were singing along to nearly every track. By this point random dancing man was having the time of his life. There was no stopping him. Random drunken man was now literally lying by my feet touching my sexy new pink shoes. I was scared he was going to nick them.
The 10,000 Things guitarist made another special appearance too. He wandered across the stage not only with his trousers down but this time with his pants down too. What was that all about?! Guess he just wanted the ladies to see his manhood. I saw it too. Not a nice sight let me tell ya!
Said guitarist later showed off his arse too. The Blueskins concluded with ‘Magpie Blues’. Despite calls for an encore, it just wasn’t to be. Random dancing man looked too tired to dance anymore anyway. Random drunken man meanwhile was later escorted off the premises by two members of the security staff.
It was a very strange night but a very good one. Word finally seems to be getting around. People are now travelling from miles and miles away to attend gigs at the Kazbah. It looks set to be a great year for the venue. Top bands such as Easyworld and The Zutons are amongst those booked to play in the coming weeks. The atmosphere at this gig was fantastic and a great night was had by all, especially random dancing man, random drunken man and the legend that is the guitarist from 10.000 Things.
BY MR MARTYN. JAN 2004. |