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Review by Rob.

Some surprises on showcase night.

Firstly for those of you who know your venues, I can report that the main Academy venue has had a makeover. Or to be more accurate is in the process of having one. At the moment this consists of draping large black curtains over the walls and refurbing the toilets, at least that's the reason for us all having to trek outside to use portakabins I hope. One thing they might consider is putting in a second bar as the one existing one is hopelessly oversubscribed. Still the bar staff did their best and respect is due to them, I'm sure they were far too busy to watch the bands.

Arriving at the very un gig like time of 7.15 we get in straight away to find a healthy crowd already in and the Ting Tings on stage and ploughing into their first or second number. They are a two piece, consisting of a male drummer, Jules, and female singer and occasional six stringer, Katie. Tonight is almost a home show for them, as they hail from nearby Salford. Musically they are minimalist as you would expect but stray away from the blues based territory of the White Stripes and the Kills. Instead they opt for a lighter poppy approach with catchy songs, especially the choruses, all pretty short and sharp, and if you want a comparison I suppose you could go for the Dresden Dolls meets Bow Wow Wow via the Go! Team. Memorable tunes include 'Fruit Machine' and 'Greatest DJ'. both fleshed out with backing tracks but that's not to the detriment of the songs. They finish with the excellent 'That's not my Name', the best song i've heard in ages, actually released last year but surely due a re release, and clearly make a big impression. If this lot don't do the business I will be amazed. One of the best opening acts of the awards tour, and there's been a few good 'uns.

Next up are dance rock crossovers Does it offend you Yeah? and I must confess I was not expecting much, and headed off to the bar. Well even though I saw only three quarters of the set, they proved me wrong, putting in an energetic performance, with one or two excellent songs, and you can just see this sort of stuff going down a storm at the Summer's festivals. As if to confirm the effort the band put in the singer knocks a molar out during the last song. However the performance was anything but toothless. By contrast, Joe Lean and the Jing Jang Jong are disappointing. There's no way round this fact. Part of the problem is that they are much hyped and can't really carry it off live. Right from the off they struggle to get the audience on their side. In fact they are what you would call indie by numbers, a sort of out of the box band if you like. That's not to say they don't have any decent tunes, 'Lonely Buoy' and 'Lucio starts Fires' both possess plenty of energy. It's just that we have been down this road before with the View and Kooks, and to succeed in this field you need to be a bit special, this lot are just average, but that's not to say they won't get better in time.

Winning over the audience has not really been a problem for The Cribs for a while now. Several years of honing their raw and sharp indie anthems around small venues has now given way to last year's breakthrough, to sell out shows and slots on the main stage of many major festivals. Their last album has made them serious contenders for the best British indie band, a fact reflected in their nominations for this year's NME awards proper. With major appearances in the US ahead of them including SXSW, as well as this showcase tour they are winning friends both with music fans and those in loftier places. More of this later. Tonight is all about a celebration of their journey so far, with songs from all three of their albums, though most is drawn from most recent, and best, 'Men's needs, woman's needs - Whatever'. Banter is kept to a minimum tonight as the trio race through their set, and its a hot and sweaty hour. Highlights include breakthrough single 'Hey scenesters' and top single from 2007 'Mens needs' and a manic 'Wrong way to be' featuring the now mandatory stage dive from Ryan. However the best moment involves the rendition of the seven minute dirge rock of 'Be Safe', the monologue which runs through the song from Lee Ronaldo of Sonic Youth being projected on video screens (Apparently recently re recorded for the upcoming US shows). It is stunning, a tune miles away from their normal fayre, indeed the band have hinted that it marks a watershed for them and they may turn their attentions to more of this dark stuff for future records. When you consider their influences include US icons such as Johnny Thunders, The Ramones and Stephen Malkmus, then the results could be interesting

There could be personnel changes ahead for them too. However fans of the band should not panic (no pun intended) as Ryan introduces a legend of Manchester music to the stage for the encore of sorts (the band never play proper encores). As rumoured Johnny Marr takes his place stage left and a manic run through of The Smiths 'Panic' ensues, followed by the band's own 'I'm a realist'. Marr looks likely to feature on the band's next record, probably on production duties too, and his experiences with Modest Mouse recently, as well as past glories could make it a heady concoction. Let's hope they pull it off. So a pretty good night really, three contenders and one pretender to the throne of indie rock. For me, excellent as the Cribs were, they are really tried and tested at this level, and while we wait for them to really take off with their next album, the Ting Tings will be the ones to watch from this bill over the next 12 months

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