Rarely has a Monday night in Lincoln had such a buzz about it, as tonight the Shockwaves NME Awards Tour 2008 hits The Engine Shed.
The first three bands on display tonight - The Ting Tings, Does It Offend You Yeah?, and Joe Lean & The Jing Jang Jong - are varied in style but one thing that they do have in common is really dumb names. Still the crowds have turned up to ensure that the venue is bustling at what must be close to capacity.
Proceedings started surprisingly early and as this reviewer arrives The Ting Tings set is already drawing to a close, meaning that it would be unfair to pass judgement on the Salford duo.
Does It Offend You Yeah? are next up and take to the stage with a confident swagger and a barrage of electro- indie tunes. From that sort of description however it would be extraordinarily easy to dismiss the band before hearing them as merely another part of the nu-rave fashion wave. However the performance tonight suggests that this band have a little more to them than that.
Just as Daft Punk have the ability to fuse electro and rock perfectly to create songs of epic proportions, so too it would seem do Does It Offend You Yeah?. Their set certainly provokes a reaction and a frenzy of pogo-ing across the venue.
Their performance is rounded off with crowd favourite We Are Rockstars which causes chaos at the stage front and incites a barrage of crowd surfers to make their way forward despite the venue being littered with notices that such behaviour is ‘strictly forbidden.’ Things certainly look promising for the Reading four piece and they will certainly have earned more than a few new followers this evening.
Joe Lean & The Jing Jang Jong are very much hyped at present so great things were expected from them tonight. They certainly look the part with a Bowie-like swagger and face paint. As front man Joe Lean takes to the stage, a few whispers of “Isn’t he in Peep Show?” can be heard.
Well the answer to that is yes, he is. Joe plays a character desperate to be popular with the music ‘in crowd’. It would perhaps be a little unfair to suggest that little acting would have been required on his part but the songs seem to lack a little something, as the crowd doesn’t seem particularly roused by their performance.
Thankfully headliners The Cribs don’t disappoint. Their latest and third album Men’s Needs, Women’s Needs, Whatever seems to have finally brought the Jarman brothers the recognition that they’ve received in the Leeds area right across the country.
Tonight the band are right on form with Mirror Kissers and Men’s Needs being particularly stand out tracks. Towards the end of the set frontman Ryan engages with the crowd asking “So what’s going on after?” His willingness to chat and pose for photographs with whoever approaches him out on the town later that night only further adds to the belief that this down to earth band have finally got the success they deserve.
