05 June 2013 (gig)
11 June 2013
It was ‘old meets new’ at The Garage, when The Crunch took to the stage for their much-anticipated UK live debut. ‘Old’ because the band is comprised of truly seasoned rock ‘n’ rollers, ‘new’ because the band exclusively played material from their forthcoming album – with a couple of exceptions.
I recently reviewed the band’s excellent debut single ‘Down By Border’, so tonight was the chance to check it out live.
For those not familiar with The Crunch, the outfit is comprised of Sulo Karlsson, (singer with Swedish blues/glam-rockers Diamond Dogs, Dave Tregunna (Sham 69 / Lords Of The New Church), Mick Geggus (Cockney Rejects), and Terry Chimes (The Clash). For tonight’s debut, the Crunchers got additional support from Swedish singer Idde Schultz on keyboards.
Suffice to say, the upstairs venue was filled with a lively mix consisting of music biz pals, PRs, existing fans, regular Garage dwellers, and those curious to find out what the hype is all about.
There was quite a buzz about, with punters eagerly awaiting the arrival of the band. Judging from the cheers they received as they took to the stage, The Crunch were on to a winner right from the opening number, which by the way was the aptly titled ‘Busy Making Noise’. Sulo and Co. went straight for the action, and after ‘Street Flavour’ and ‘A Matter Of Time’ the on-stage energy had spread across the venue. The dynamic between each band member was electrifying, and the slightly rougher and harder live sound proved to be a contributing factor. Speaking of, the sound we’re talking about was a brilliant mix of Clash-infused punk rock, blended with good ole rock ‘n’ roll.
There was one clumsy glitch when the changing of one of Sulo’s guitars took longer than it should have - as he funnily remarked, changing gadgets is part of the show, and “we love our gadgets”.
Geggus, Tregunna and Terry gave their all (and with a huge smile on their faces), while Idde (who reminds me of a young Sharleen Spiteri) remained in the background. That’s not saying her backing vocals and keyboard sound did the same, far from it. Both made for confident harmonies.
After ‘Right About Now’, Sulo expressed his delight that the band performed their debut in The Garage, and thanked everyone for coming along to witness “this historic event”.
No prices for guessing that with a line-up like that, the band would take the opportunity and take a musical trip down memory lane. And so, after two further numbers, it was Dave Tregunna who briefly took over lead vocal duties when he sang ‘Russian Roulette’ in memory of his former Lords Of The New Church disciple Stiv Bators. While you probably wouldn’t call Tregunna the most gifted vocalist in the rock firmament, it was nonetheless a highlight of the evening.
Next came a duet - ‘A Little Bit Of Grace’ which Sulo performed with Idde – slightly more mellow than the previous numbers and full of grace, yes.
Finally, the first of the two A-side single releases was announced, and before The Crunch blasted into feral beats, Sulo quipped, “One guest who let us down and aren’t coming tonight is the BBC…” before the opening lyrics of ‘Gangster Radio’ amusingly revealed “Never made it to the BBC…” Shame there wasn’t much space on stage for the band to dart around, as the driven energy and intensity of the song demanded such action.
Current hit single ‘Down By The Border’ went down a storm, with some people singing along to the chorus. Call it melody-driven pop-punk, call it edgy pop-rock, call it what you want – it all boils down to the same thing: the song scrabbles straight for chart gold… on the Gangster Radio.
It wasn’t midnight hour yet, but the crowd was yelling fore more, more, more! They were promptly rewarded with two more songs, ‘Runaway Son’, and for the grand finale, a number by The Clash – ‘Garageland’. Fitting song for the chosen venue then! This was an absolute kicker, and Clash sticks man Terry Chimes really let rip while the rest of the band were strumming the chords as if there was no tomorrow.
The Crunch have announced more UK gigs for autumn and once the album is out – so watch this space.
