Channeling the boozy energy of the Replacements’ is nearly impossible, but the Cribs did a fine job trying Friday. Photos by .
For three minutes on Friday, lived on in the sweaty, messy young passion of British bros . “Bastards of Young” was always meant to be, yes, sung by the young, and when young Ryan Jarman started screeching the song’s trademark outro, “Young, take it, itap yours … ” (repeat 16X), he tapped into an adolescent fury that Paul Westerberg himself probably hasn’t realized in a decade.
Actually the post-punk revivalists did a pretty nice job of channeling the seminal boozing Minnesota rockers of the ’80s of yore throughout their frenzied, big-buzz set at the, coming, as it did, just days after the Cribs’ appearance on “Late Night with David Letterman.”
It was as raucous and unpredictable as most of those glorious ’Mats shows, with the boys yelling their lyrics but driving their rhythms and maintaining their melodies. With Ryan fronting with twin Gary on bass, and younger sib Ross on bass, there was more hopping than on Easter.
Ryan announced how pleased he was to be making his first appearance in Denver, though, in true rocker form, he admitted, “I wish I could say for sure whether that was true, but I just can’t.”
The opening wasn’t quite the riot they were in September’s blazing set at Red Rocks. But the combination of pop and sexy cello rock had the crowd engaged … if not riotous. They have more time coming up in Colorado as well. They’ll be back in Colorado Springs May 9 (at ) and again in Denver on June 14 (the location hasn’t been announced).
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Reverb contributor John Moore is the Denver Post’s theater critic.
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