Bostonian four-piece Crumb, brought their brand of indie rock to London’s Tufnell Park Dome for the first of two sold-out, raucous, shows following the release of their well-received debut LP in June.
The crowd are raring to go after a wonderful warm up from Hackney-based female trio Deep Tan. After a slightly delayed start to ensure large stage-prop balloons were ready to go, the London crowd erupt in delight at seeing the Brooklyn-via-Boston quartet play a show in their city.
Kicking off tonight’s proceedings with Cracking, the opening cut from the group’s debut album Jinx, the band – comprised of Lila Ramani on guitar and lead vocals, Jesse Brotter sporting bass and adding backing vocals, Brian Aronow on synths and saxophone, and sticksman Jonathan Gilad – take to the stage overshadowed by their four colourful balloons lit from above. The balloons are a fun little touch to the stage, almost like dreamy backing dancers swaying gently above the band as they play.
Next up is their debut LP’s title track Jinx quickly followed by their second most streamed song on Spotify, Plants. The first few bars of the song result in an eruption of applause and cheering across the North London crowd.
M.R. and The Letter, two very dreamy tunes encourage the crowd to sway slowly, their heads following the movement of their bodies. Crumb then bless us all with a new song soon to be released. Following the brand-new song, which you’ll have to keep an ear out for, Ramani offers a bunch of balloons out to crowd which slowly float up to touch the roof of the Tufnell Park venue.
The balloon vibes from this band are too cool. The inflatables on stage are attached to fans, allowing them to dance about with the band as they crack through their set before there are ultimately let loose. Crumb using the low-tech chic to elicit a stage presence that matches their music – the twentysomething frontwoman even using the age-old trick of breathing helium from a balloon to give her voice that comic relief.
Ramani announces that non-album track Tunnel will be the last of tonight’s set, much the crowd’s disappointment. They want to see and hear and rock out to more. But after the band’s stage departure and the immediate chanting of “one more song”, So Tired from the Crumb EP is aired by the returning band to appease the masses.
And they’re gone. For good this time, but leaving the collective appetite of their growing fan base whet for a return visit tomorrow night and bigger and better things further down the line. If the psychedelic indie rock stylings of Tame Impala are your kind of vibe, then you should definitely give Crumb a go to feed your dreamy synth cravings.
Live review & photography of Crumb at the Tufnell Park Dome on 5th December 2019 by Ciaran Frederick.
