Tribes // The Waterfront - 10.4.13
‘Coming of Age’ had some of the veteran ‘Tribsies’ (official term for a group of Tribes fans) welling up.
I’m a big Tribes fan and having seen their debut ‘Baby’ tour last year at the Norwich Arts Centre, so I was eagerly anticipating this year’s show at The Waterfront. What I was not prepared for was the shift in crowd demographic, in such a relatively short period of time. The chilled indie boy music buff in skinny jeans and a Cribs t-shirt of 2012 had been replaced by hoards of excitable, ‘totally wasted’ and scantily clad pre-teen girls screeching “Omg can you get served?” across the venue.
With an atmosphere of a squeaky American high school prom pervading the Waterfront I was interested to hear how this might affect the overall performance and ambiance of the relaxed rock and roll band. Launching straight into personal favourite ‘Sappho’, front man Johnny Lloyd knows how to get the people interested. As promised, Tribes delivered the same moving lyrics, ‘lighters in the air’ ballads, rocking drums and the best riffs in modern music. A Tribes gig is ALWAYS good.
The pace did not let up for 90 minutes as the band steered a course through its eclectic The Pixies / Nirvana / Blue Oyster Cult inspired back catalogue - ‘Corner of an English Field’ and ‘We Were Children’ was performed with verve and had everyone jumping. New track ‘How the Other Half Live’ took the crowd by storm while the old favourite ‘Coming of Age’ had some of the veteran ‘Tribsies’ (official term for a group of Tribes fans) welling up.
Despite some of the younger crowd paying little attention to the music and more to their iPhone, Tribes showed us why they still attract a large crowd despite limited radio play or chart action. It’s a real shame to see the rock and roll revolutionists such as Tribes and their two incredible support acts play their hearts out whilst the majority of the crowd were too busy taking ‘selfies’. However, in spite of that, Tribes put on another amazing show.
Freja Hoskins
