Review by Gary Spiller for MPM
After spending the previous evening in the excellent company of Phil Campbell And The Bastard Sons a glorious Sunday dawns for part two of the Welsh Westcountry ‘invasion’.
Nitrous injected Bridgend metallers Those Damn Crows have hotfooted it into Devon. Quite who decided that Norwich was a logistical fit between tonight and Bournemouth a couple of evenings ago is a provocative question as we draw ever closer to the spring equinox.
Once the south-westerly terminus of the Fosse Way the city glows and bustles in the spring sunshine, its imposing red sandstone city walls hold the centre in their reassuring embrace as they have done for many centuries. The immortal bird of Greek mythology stands upon its eternal watch atop the venue’s entrance gazing down upon the steady stream of punters gathering.
The fifth sold-out show of what has since transpired to be a completely sold-out tour the Crows are on mission reconnect. With just five shows in the UK last year, including a packed Cardiff Arena show and opening for the legendary ZZ Top at Wembley, this tour whilst a promo for the forthcoming album ‘God Shaped Hole’ is also viewed as an important reconnection with the bands loyal fanbase.
Announced as special guests just a few weeks before the tour Nashville rocking riot James Bruner has on the previous nights been kicking up quite a storm going on the buzz on social media.
Pre-gig I’m genuinely looking forward to catching him and his band live but somehow my expectations sadly outstrip the overall result. Bruner’s brash, extrovert character – an alloy of Iggy Pop and Jim Morrison – jars on a personal level and whilst a healthy percentage of the crowd is won over, I’m not alone in being left a touch cold.
The unabashed basement dwelling ‘When I’m Down’ bursts the dam but the oddly quiet crowd remains subdued until Bruner and his talented surrounds get into their stride mid-set with latest single ‘Eye In The Sky’. With a deeply rooted 70s snarl its rollicking stampede engages, atop a freewaying groove a southern-infused six-string solo soars a fiery flightpath. ‘Wait For You’ possesses a Sabbath growl but searing solo aside it’s a touch generic and the muted crowd response is a telling barometer.
‘Alibi’ is strongly delivered, and the second half of the set sees up an upwards trajectory with the Phoenix crowd beginning to warm to this Tennessee native who appears to have raw electricity coursing through his lithe body. The set-ending svelte stomp of ‘Better Days’ happily dwells in the southern swamplands and serves notice that there are several more gears available than utilised here this evening. There’s more in the tank I feel and that leaves me requiring a second look at this four-pieced intrigue.
It’s fully eight years, 40 miles away on the opposite of Exmoor, that a then nascent Those Damn Crows quite literally blew the roof off the Giants of Rock ‘Introducing Stage’ at Minehead’s Butlins. Four or five hundred festival goers crammed into Jaks Bar singing every last word and the rest is history. It’s been an upward trajectory ever since with forthcoming album ‘God Shaped Hole’ surely on course to better the number three chart position achieved by 2023’s ‘Inhale/Exhale’.
Arena shows in Swansea and Cardiff have proven the Crows are totally ready for the bigger stage, especially the latter where several thousand fans descended upon the Welsh capital’s largest indoor venue in December. That being said, it’s touring where a band’s teeth are cut and it’s a leaner and more laser-beam focused quintet that have returned from a couple of recent shows in Sweden. Perhaps the doctor ordered meatballs and an invigorating sauna, we’ll probably never know what has occurred to bring about a noticeable seismic shift in delivery.
It’s no gimmickry right from the off with the set-opening, and lead single from the forthcoming long-player, ‘Let’s Go Psycho!’ that does precisely, to the letter, what it states on the tin’s exterior. Hard-hitting its rasping inferno is no-nonsense heads down and is old-school Crows personified. It’s quite some time since Kelly and I were roughly ten percent of the crowd of a Thursday night crowd in Camden’s Barfly and just one track in I can sense that this is going to be chockful of the essence of the early days.
The fast-tracking melodics of ‘Man on Fire’ ramraid with a slight Celtic resonance in the guitaring of David Winchurch and Ian ‘Shiner’ Thomas. With the crowd firmly onside frontman Shane Greenhall wipes away the sweat from his forehead and salutes to his right, in the direction of Winchurch and bassist Lloyd Wood come track end. Scanning the scene the vocalist quips “How did we get 500 in here?” before furthering “Like a bunch of sardines!”
‘Find a Way’ tramples all in its path with an earthquaking beat supplied from the kit behind which ever-affable drummer Ronnie Huxford is situated. Greenhall despatches the rally call amidst the chugging maelstrom, “We’ll find a way.” There’s great crowd engagement as Winchurch lays down a lush solo, a welcome moment with the spots trained stage right.
There’s a most welcome return for an enigmatic ‘Kingdom of Dust’ with a cheeky twinkle in Greenhall’s eyes as he notes “I’m about to fuck things up!” mid-song. With snarling guitars in hand Winchurch and Thomas face-off, smiles aplenty. This is a band clearly re-energised and enjoying the moment.
Any lingering doubts of the Crows’ motives and intentions are completely vaporised by a fully electric rendition of ‘Bink of an Eye’, just as it was initially intended; the first time I’ve witnessed the track in its original form since the Monster Truck tour of 2022. Gone are the keyboards and down-tempo intro and back is the raw and bleeding emotives of how things once were.
The energies in the room, understandably so, dip slightly with a trio of singles from ‘God Shaped Hole’ as the new material begins to find its place. ‘No Surrender’ is tornadic with ‘Glass Heart’ translating well into the live arena, mercifully not a single white suit is to be seen. ‘Dreaming’ with its Foo Fighters styled intro rounds off the triplet in a heavied-up Stereophonics fashion.
“Back to the Crow classics” informs Greenhall, the unmistakable storm break of Welsh valley rocking ‘Who Did It’ the first strike of a ‘Point of No Return’ hat-trick. Exeter is in fine vocal fettle with the band ensuring complete control. “Fucking outstanding Exeter!” Greenhall enthuses and he means it too. The pounding reverberation of ‘Sin on Skin’ follows with the buzzsawing of ‘Go Get It’ trucking along with a slight touch of Magnum’s ‘Kingdom of Madness’ about it.
For those whom we’ve loved and lost, those met and those we haven’t, a highly emotional ‘This Time I’m Ready’ strikes a deep chord within. A tender surrender indeed. Exeter, in coruscant mellifluous delight, sways side to side. The emphatic earworm of ‘See You Again’ has proven an apt set-closer on previous occasions but not tonight.
There’s no messing about with encores or any faff indeed as signature track ‘Rock n’ Roll Ain’t Dead!’ brings the curtain down. The crowd are raucous, heartily singing as if their lives depend upon it. In seventy minutes, The Crows have played a blinder, returning to their core roots with a pugilistic approach that has become a touch diluted in recent times. The Crows are back and they’re in business!
Photography by Kelly Spiller for MPM
